Fukoku Reports First Quarter Results, Sales Stable Aug. 22, 2025. - Fukoku reported its financial results for the first quarter of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2026. Net sales reached 22.72 billion yen ($154.71 million), up 2.2% year-on-year, while operating profit rose slightly to 1 billion yen, a 2.1% increase. Ordinary profit fell sharply to 917 million yen, down 28.8%, and net profit decreased 33.2% to 493 million yen. By […]
Nitta Reports Lower Profit on Stable Sales: First Quarter Results Aug. 20, 2025. - Nitta announced its financial results for the first quarter of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2026 (April–June 2025), reporting net sales of 21.63 billion yen ($147.29 million), essentially unchanged from the same period last year. Operating income fell 5.7% to 1.10 billion yen, ordinary income declined 11.9% to 3.17 billion yen, and net income decreased 9.0% to 2.74 billion […]
Bridgestone and ispace Sign Agreement on Lunar Rover Tire Development Aug. 15, 2025. - Bridgestone and ispace, a space startup engaged in lunar resource development, have signed a basic agreement to pursue the commercialization of tires for small and medium-sized lunar rovers. Under the agreement, the two companies will collaborate to enhance the performance of ispace’s small and medium-sized lunar rover prototypes by equipping them with elastic lunar rover tires developed by Bridgestone. These […]
Bridgestone and Cebu Pacific Launch New Aircraft Tire Tracking Solution Aug. 14, 2025. - Bridgestone has partnered with Cebu Pacific Air, one of the Philippines’ largest airlines, to launch a new solution aimed at improving the efficiency of aircraft tire inventory management. The service, which began in April, utilizes Bridgestone’s proprietary tire tracking system easytrack, combining two-dimensional (2D) codes and a smartphone application. This marks the first time Bridgestone has officially implemented the service […]
Sumitomo Rubber Posts Lower Sales and Profit in First Half Aug. 13, 2025. - Sumitomo Rubber posted a decline in both sales and profit for the first half of the fiscal year ending December 31, 2025, but said its shift toward a more premium product mix continued to make progress. For the January–June period, revenue under IFRS came to 572.19 billion yen ($3.88 billion), down 2.5% from a year earlier. Business profit dropped 33.1% […]
Sumitomo Rubber Introduces Circular Carbon Black in Racing Tires Aug. 5, 2025. - Sumitomo Rubber has announced the adoption of circular carbon black in some of its racing tires, marking a significant step in the company’s circular economy initiative known as Towanowa. This marks the company’s first application of resource-circulated carbon black in tire production. The new racing tires were used in the GT300 class of the 2025 Autobacs Super GT Round 4 […]
Fukoku Reports First Quarter Results, Sales Stable Aug. 22, 2025. - Fukoku reported its financial results for the first quarter of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2026. Net sales reached 22.72 billion yen ($154.71 million), up 2.2% year-on-year, while operating profit rose slightly to 1 billion yen, a 2.1% increase. Ordinary profit fell sharply to 917 million yen, down 28.8%, and net profit decreased 33.2% to 493 million yen. By […]
Nitta Reports Lower Profit on Stable Sales: First Quarter Results Aug. 20, 2025. - Nitta announced its financial results for the first quarter of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2026 (April–June 2025), reporting net sales of 21.63 billion yen ($147.29 million), essentially unchanged from the same period last year. Operating income fell 5.7% to 1.10 billion yen, ordinary income declined 11.9% to 3.17 billion yen, and net income decreased 9.0% to 2.74 billion […]
Denka Sees Operating Profit Decline in First Quarter: Financial Results Aug. 19, 2025. - Denka announced its financial results for the first quarter of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2026 (April–June 2025). Consolidated net sales came in at 94.07 billion yen ($640.58 million), down 1.2% year-on-year. Operating profit declined 51.2% to 2.30 billion yen, and ordinary profit fell 53.7% to 1.67 billion yen. Net profit, however, surged 122.2% to 5.00 billion yen, largely […]
Tosoh to Raise Chloroprene Rubber Prices from September Aug. 12, 2025. - Tosoh announced that it will raise the price of its chloroprene rubber product Skyprene (sulfur-modified grade) effective with shipments on or after September 19. The increase will be at least 120 yen ($0.81) per kilogram for domestic customers and at least $800 per metric ton for exports. Tosoh said that while it has implemented cost-reduction measures, labor savings, and logistics […]
Interview: Hideki Ogawa, President of Nishikawa Rubber Jan. 27, 2025. - Japan Rubber Weekly recently sat down for an interview with Hideki Ogawa, president of Nishikawa Rubber, to discuss the year ahead. “In 2025, we will continue to take on any challenge with elastic ideas,” Ogawa said. Also actively promoting the use of AI and automation, the company is on track to develop new products and technologies that are expected to […]
Interview: Toyohiro Hagiwara, Vice President, Gates Unitta Asia Jan. 24, 2025. - Japan Rubber Weekly sat down for an interview with Toyohiro Hagiwara, vice president of Gates Unitta Asia (GUA), to talk about business and the year ahead. “In the automotive field, we will expand the use of our products in commercial vehicles and respond to new types of mobility, such as EVs and electric motorcycles. In general industrial applications, we see […]
Toyoda Gosei Invests in Startup Aiming for Practical Nuclear Fusion Power Generation Jul. 30, 2025. - Toyoda Gosei has invested in Helical Fusion, a startup focused on commercializing nuclear fusion power generation, seen as a promising future energy source. Nuclear fusion power generates high-output energy from CO2-free nuclear reactions, using abundant fuel sources like deuterium found in seawater. Considered easier to control than nuclear fission used in traditional nuclear power, it is driving a global race […]
Sumitomo Rubber Develops Rubber Material Compatible with 3D Printing Jul. 17, 2025. - Sumitomo Rubber has developed a rubber material that can be processed using 3D printers. The company aims to commercialize the material for 3D printing applications by 2026 and will continue to advance its development. Traditionally, producing rubber products using 3D printers has been considered difficult. However, Sumitomo Rubber has succeeded in developing a proprietary material with excellent resilience and high […]
Japan Glove Manufacturers Association Publishes 2024 Glove Sales Volumes Apr. 18, 2025. - According to the 2024 Japanese domestic glove sales volume statistics compiled by the Japan Glove Manufacturers Association, household glove sales reached 73.253 million pairs, down 1% year-on-year, nearly flat. Nitrile gloves alone grew by 14%, but cautious buying due to a sluggish market continued to suppress demand post-COVID. Ultra-thin gloves (excluding medical use) totaled 5.405 billion pieces, up 6% and […]
CEMA Publishes Construction Machinery Demand Forecasts for Fiscal 2024 and 2025 Mar. 7, 2025. - The Japan Construction Equipment Manufacturers Association (CEMA) recently released its construction machinery demand forecasts for fiscal 2024 (April 2024-March 2025) and fiscal 2025 (April 2025-March 2026). The forecasts were compiled based on a questionnaire survey conducted in January among 61 construction equipment manufacturers that are regular members of the association. According to the survey, in fiscal 2024, Japanese domestic shipments […]
