OREANDA-NEWS. December 21, 2010. Nizhnekamsk factory of solid steel cord tires has produced 100,000 tires with solid steel cord. This symbolic milestone has been reached within the short time period: TATNEFT put the factory into operation in December 2009, reported the press-centre of TATNEFT.

The plans of "Nizhnekamsk SSC tire factory" provide for starting mass production of 10 sizes of solid steel tires in 2010. To date, the last planned (tenth) model KAMA 245/70R19.5 NR 201 has been put on production.

The project of TATNEFT Company to produce tires with solid steel cord is the most promising area of the tire business development. The practice of the European countries shows that the consumption of SSC tires accounts for up to 90% of the total consumption of truck and bus tires.

According to tests performed by the experts of Continental Company new tires increase load capacity by 8% and decrease fuel consumption by 10%. SSC tires differ from traditional truck tires in that unlike the traditional ones they have the wire base both in the tire carcass and in the breaker (part of the tire, which is located between the carcass and the tread). Possibility of threefold tires retreading increases the tire life up to 500 thousand kilometers. Tires fully comply with the European environmental standards.

Today, solid steel cord tires of the "KAMA" brand are available for sale both in the secondary and in the export markets. Consumers of a wide range of tire products offered by oilmen are many transport enterprises of the Russian Federation and CIS. Nizhnekamsk tires with solid steel cord are delivered for completion of equipment manufactured by KAMAZ, NefAZ and MZ Tonar. During the operation period Nizhnekamsk solid steel cord tires proved to be of high quality, there is little susceptibility to wear and by all technical and performance characteristics they are suitable for application in transport enterprises.

As far as the development of the export market is concerned nearly thirty percent of Series N "KAMA" solid steel cord tires are exported abroad. At the end of September 2010 Continental AG and TATNEFT signed an agreement on manufacturing tires on the off-take basis (production of tires to the order for other brands) at the facilities of "Nizhnekamsk SSC tire factory". The first batch of products under the brand of Continental will roll off the production line of the "Nizhnekamsk SSC tire factory" in January 2011, which will be sold at the Russian domestic market and will also be exported to Europe.

The experts of "NTC" Kama", which is part of Tatneft-Neftekhim, have started their own development of SSC tire models. Laboratories of chemical, physical and chemical and bench testing are equipped with modern and hi-tech laboratory equipment of the known European manufacturers. Output of the first pilot batches is scheduled for June 2011.

Information reference
The production capacities of the "Nizhnekamsk SSC tire factory" are capable of manufacturing 1.2 million tires per year. It is the largest investment project of TATNEFT Company, which has invested about 17 billion rubles in it. As of today, the commercial production has no analogues in Europe and Asia.