Continental expands portfolio

The new portfolio includes customised tyres for all vehicle types operating in ports, including straddle carriers, reach stackers, rubber tyre gantry cranes, terminal tractors and trailors and heavy duty forklifts.

Dr Michael Andreas Maertens, managing director, Continental CST, told GreenPort: “The new range was developed to meet customer needs. There is more pressure to ship more containers so container volume is growing and vessels are getting bigger and bigger, so there is more productivity.”

He added: “20% of a vehicle’s fuel consumption originates in the rolling resistance of tyres. With our new portfolio we offer our customers in the harbour business a complete solution that increases reliability and safety. At the same time it helps to keep operating costs down and to optimise the environmental performance of their fleets.”

These new tyres have been based on Continental’s V.ply technolgoy, which combines cross-ply and radial-ply design to give optimal rolling resistance.

The new portfolio is part of the company’s new business strategy which sees it extend its product range and customer service portfolio to the industrial material handling, OTR material handling and underground mining sectors.

Another core project is CST’s new eco-friendly solid tyre, Continental LifeCycle. By reusing selected tire casings, the amount of energy and raw material in the tire manufacturing process is reduced.

In addition, the company aims to extend its position in Europe and gain ground in other regions outside the established markets, including Asia, Africa and the BRIC states (Brazil, Russia, India and China).