AFRICA NEWS
Just over a year ago, Trentyre, a
subsidiary owned by Goodyear
South Africa, introduced FleetFirst
— a tyre management solution
servicing fleets across South Africa.
As one of the few providers with a
nationwide offering, Trentyre views
FleetFirst as a comprehensive
product and service solution that
gives fleet owners peace of mind.
Trentyre customers enjoy a
premium truck tyre service, which
focuses on the complete life cycle
management of commercial truck
tyres. The emergency roadside
assistance service, complemented
by a 24/7 call centre, has a unique
mapping system that ensures
downtimes are kept to a minimum.
The adaptable Internet-based fleet
management system is tailored to
the specific needs of its customers
and enables work to be carried out
in locations across South Africa.
Customers get more mileage from
their truck tyres that have gone
through re-treading, extending the
life of truck tyres while providing a
similar performance to that of a
new tyre.
Egypt’s Ministry of Public Sector has
announced that the National Cement Co
(NCC) has fallen into liquidation. NCC’s kiln
lines had been shut down since 31 May 2018.
Minister Hisham Tawfik announced that the
company had lost EGP900-billion (USD50-
billion) in the past year. The factory is also
heavily in debt, owing EGP4.4-billion to the
Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Co and EGP700-
million to the Egyptian Electricity Co.
In the most recent financial year, the
company’s losses were the highest among all
public sector companies. These losses were
incurred due to the high cost of production, as
the cost of producing a tonne of cement is 60%
higher than the average cost in other
competitor companies.
The liquidation process has already begun.
The company’s enrolment in the stock market
was written off in August 2018. The next step
is selling NCC’s stocks in the Suez Cement Co
and Al-Nahda Co, which are estimated at
EGP400-million.
The sale of the company’s land and the
factory equipment will be next to pay for the
workers’ compensation, which is understood to
be around EGP500–700-million. Staff over 50
years old will receive pecuniary compensation,
while younger employees will be moved to
other cement companies, said Tawfik.
4 000th FAW rolls off Coega production line
The FAW plant has increased production to include almost all FAW commercial vehicles sold in the sub-Saharan region today.
FAW South Africa’s world-class
Coega assembly plant recently
celebrated the assembly of the
4 000th FAW in South Africa.
FAW SA prides itself on
ensuring that the R600-million
plant operates according to the
environmental standards put
into place by the Coega IDZ. The
plant has increased production
to include almost all FAW
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NOVEMBER 2018
commercial vehicles sold in the
sub-Saharan region today. It has
produced 1 061 vehicles in the
past 13 months alone (averaging
81 vehicles a month), which are
either sold locally or exported
into southern Africa. FAW SA has
a rigid quality control procedure
that all vehicles must pass
before these vehicles are given
the green light. No less than
seven quality checkpoints are in
place to ensure that all vehicles
that roll off the production line
are of the highest build quality.
To date, a total of 16 different
models have been assembled at
the plant in Coega, ranging from
the 8.140 to the 420hp FAW
33.420FT truck tractor, which is the
newest model in the company’s
extra-heavy commercial vehicle
range and is the successor to the
FAW 28.380FT.
Total FAW exports reached
159 units in 2016, which rose to
212 units in 2017, establishing
FAW as the second-largest
commercial vehicle exporter
in South Africa. This is further
testament to the brand’s
promise to build quality vehicles
in South Africa for Africa.
www.plantonline.co.za