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Even With Market Fluctuations, Gov't Sees $3 Gas Soon
March 10, 2010
Despite continuing fluctuations in oil prices – and resulting gas prices at the pumps – the U.S. Energy Department still expects retail gasoline prices to hit above $3 per gallon mid-year.
In its most current monthly report, the Energy Information Administration said that for the full year the national average should be about $2.84 per gallon, up from $2.35 per gallon in 2009.
Meanwhile...
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Class 8 Sales Up, But Still Underperforming
March 08, 2010
Trucking industry analysts FTR Associates said preliminary data shows a nearly 20% boost in Class 8 truck total net orders for all major North American OEMs.
But the February sales news is not all rosy. With 7,628 units ordered, February’s sales results were 19.7% higher than January, when orders were the lowest since 2002. And the February results were still significantly below 2009 average...
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Global Carbon Black Production Shifting East: Report
March 04, 2010
World carbon black demand is forecast to rise 4.3% per year every year until 2013, according to research published by Bharat Books.
The report suggests annual demand will reach 11.6 million metric tons in 2013 bolstered by a healthy global rubber market in the same period. Sixty percent of demand is said to come from tire applications. Carbon black demand from the tire sector is projected to increase...
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Thai NR Gets 50-Year High Price from Bridgestone
March 03, 2010
A Reuters report says Bridgestone Corp. paid $3.28/kg for some quantities on Thai RSS3 rubber in a deal that represents the highest price paid for the grade in 58 years.
The report spoke to a dealer in Hat Yai, Thailand, who stated that the Japanese tiremaker “has been in the market almost every day lately” but that only relatively small quantities were changing hands. The dealer...
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Commentary: E-Tailers, Autocenters Are On The Up
March 03, 2010
What will the tire retail business look like in five years time? Who knows.
As I have learnt to my peril in this column, prognostication is a dangerous business. Let’s not recall how last year I wrote that new S-marking regulations would be implemented quickly and smoothly “unless there is an unlikely stay of execution.” Of course the inevitable happened and there was indeed...
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China's Tiremakers Facing Tougher Competition - From Majors
February 26, 2010
China's tiremakersare facing tougher - and growing - competition from major industry names as companies like Groupe Michelin, Bridgestone Corp. and others are boosting their investment in China.
According to the People’s Daily, “Booming domestic market made foreign companies more confident in their expansion in China, and will lead to more fierce competition in China," said a manager...
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Gas Prices Headed for $3 by Mid-Year
February 23, 2010
Despite heavy fall-off in demand, gas prices at the pump are still expected to reach $3 per gallon this summer, according to industry watchers.
As of Feb. 22, the AAA said the retail average price of gas nationwide reached $2.65 per gallon, even as crude oil prices remained slightly below the $80 per barrel mark.
Analysts said that fuel prices usually trend up at this time of the year as refiners...
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Small Car Registration Climbs in Western Europe
February 12, 2010
One of the more widely anticipated effects of the car scrappage schemes popular in Europe as stimuli for the industry in 2009 was the increase in market share of A and B-segment small cars (exemplified by Ford’s Fiesta and Ka, Fiat’s 500 and Panda and Volkswagen’s Polo and Fabia).
Data released by Deutsche Bank analysts shows that the predicted swing transpired to a significant...
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Auto Dealers 'Aggressively' Pursue Social Media: Study
February 10, 2010
GOSO, a web and social media company headquartered in Washington, D.C., released an independent study that indicates dealerships in the U.S. have aggressively pursued social media strategies.
The report claims that 25.5% of all dealerships have a Facebook page and 10.9% have a Twitter account. This does not include the large amount of dealers that have created user accounts for their dealerships...
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January Class 8 Orders Hit New Low
February 08, 2010
January 2010 Class 8 truck total net orders for all major North American OEMs – 6,221 units – were, the lowest since July 2002, according to FTR Associates. January’s order activity was down 46.4% from December and was 20.1% lower than the same month a year ago.
Eric Starks, President of FTR, said “The very low order activity for January was not unexpected. When fleets took...
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Freight Surge May Mean More Truck, Trailer Sales in 2011
February 03, 2010
Growing economic activity pushed FTR Associates to boost its estimates of the amount of truck freight moved at year-end 2009, as reported in the January edition of FTR’s North American Commercial Truck and Trailer Report.
“If sustained, the stronger freight picture will result in higher truck rates and better financial results for truckers in 2010 and higher truck and trailer sales...
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World Natural Rubber Use Set for 4% Growth: Freedonia
February 03, 2010
The Freedonia Group predicts that world rubber consumption will jump 4.1% per year through 2013, reaching 26.9 million metric tons.
Most of that increase will come from demand for tires and vehicle components, the company said in its latest market study.
“The largest national rubber market, China, will consume over one-third of all new rubber demand in the world through 2013, and account...
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ATA Cautions Even as Truck Shipments Jump in Late 2009
February 02, 2010
American Trucking Associations reported that for-hire truck shipment tonnage jumped 2.1% in December.
The boost follows a seasonally adjusted 2.6% improvement in November, ATA said. When compared year-over-year, the December 2009 results were up 6.6% compared to December 2008.
ATA’s tonnage index was 108.4 for December, up from November’s 106.2.
Still, truck tonnage was down...
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European Car, Truck Tire Markets Remain Depressed
February 02, 2010
ETRMA, the European tire manufacturers association, has released market data detailing the stop-start nature of most European tire markets in 2009.
According to ETRMA, “the tire industry has mixed feelings for the year 2009,” diplomatically summing up what was an atrocious year for some and a tough but stable slog for others.
The data shows that the contraction of passenger car...
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Tire Tripling Equipment May Spread New Shipment Method
February 02, 2010
Tire tripling, inserting two used tires inside another one, has been increasingly adopted as a method of saving space and achieving transportation cost savings.
To give a real life example, up to around 1,600 tires can normally be fitted into a standard container. Up to 3,500 "tripled" tires can be fit in the same space.
The problem is that transporting non-tripled tires doesn’t...
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Commentary: Tire Recovery Fights Illegal Biz, Low Profits
February 01, 2010
After experiencing more than a year of general economic recession, the U.K. tire recovery sector enters 2010 functioning at roughly full capacity, with around 500,000 tons of tires being collected last year.
This puts tonnages on a par with the latest complete data compiled by the Used Tire Working Group in 2008. However, while the U.K. has managed to limp out of recession with tire recovery tonnages...
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75% of Indian Drivers on Improperly Inflated Tires
January 28, 2010
Between 250 and 315 people die every day in road accidents across India. A recent survey conducted by Apollo Tyres begs the question: How many are because 75% of India rides on incorrect tire pressure?
While it’s difficult to put a precise figure to exactly how many accidents on Indian roads are directly due to incorrect tire pressure, with under- or over-inflated tires on passenger vehicles...
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2009 Miles Driven Will Likely Show Growth
January 22, 2010
The preliminary national data on miles traveled in November is good news for the aftermarket, according to the Automotive Aftermarket Suppliers Association (AASA).
November mileage reported an uptick following a dismal October, when the string of year-over-year positive monthly mileage reports for 2009 ended, according to the Federal Highway Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportati...
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Small Biz Owner Confidence Continues to Fall
January 15, 2010
National Federation of Independent Business reports that business confidence among small business owners tumbled in December to its lowest level in nearly half a year.
NFIB’s confidence index fell to 88 in December, down from November’s 88.3 reading. It marked the lowest index mark in five months, NFIB said.
The fall off, NFIB said, appears to come from small business owner concerns...
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U.S. Replacement Tire Market Rebounding
January 14, 2010
RMA members reported that replacement tire demand in the U.S. grew 9.3% year-on-year in December 2009, from a drop of 16% the year before.
Financial analysts pointed out that the overall market volume grew 6.1%, implying that domestic tire manufacturers (namely Cooper Tire and Goodyear) continued to experience market share gains. This is believed to be a result of last year’s Chinese-made...
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