Sumitomo Rubber Downwardly Revises Results Forecast for 2018 Aug. 17, 2018. - Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd. (TYO:5110) has announced a downward revision to its forecast of business results for calendar 2018. Compared to the company’s initial forecast, the revision sees sales lowered by 1.1 percent, business profit by 6.8 percent and net profit by 10.4 percent. The main factor behind the revision is Sumitomo Rubber’s tire business, for which both sales and […]
Carbon Black Association Makes Upward Revision to 2018 Demand Forecast Aug. 16, 2018. - The Carbon Black Association has upwardly revised its demand forecast for carbon black in a midyear revision. Under the association’s new estimates, total demand for domestic product this year – including exports – is now set to hit 765,050 tons. Previously, this figure was projected at 759,049 tons, which would have represented a flat growth rate based on non-finalized demand […]
Carbon Black Association Makes Upward Revision to 2018 Demand Forecast Aug. 16, 2018. - The Carbon Black Association has upwardly revised its demand forecast for carbon black in a midyear revision. Under the association’s new estimates, total demand for domestic product this year – including exports – is now set to hit 765,050 tons. Previously, this figure was projected at 759,049 tons, which would have represented a flat growth rate based on non-finalized demand […]
Lanxess Agrees to Sell 50% Stake in Arlanxeo to JV Partner Saudi Aramco Aug. 14, 2018. - Lanxess AG recently announced that it signed an agreement on Aug. 8 to sell its 50 percent stake in Arlanxeo, a manufacturer of synthetic rubber, to state-owned Saudi Arabian Oil Co. The German-based specialty chemicals manufacturer first established Arlanxeo in 2016 as a 50–50 joint venture with the Saudi firm, which is also known as Saudi Aramco. The sale is […]
Sumitomo Rubber Downwardly Revises Results Forecast for 2018 Aug. 17, 2018. - Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd. (TYO:5110) has announced a downward revision to its forecast of business results for calendar 2018. Compared to the company’s initial forecast, the revision sees sales lowered by 1.1 percent, business profit by 6.8 percent and net profit by 10.4 percent. The main factor behind the revision is Sumitomo Rubber’s tire business, for which both sales and […]
Bridgestone Sees Higher Sales, Lower Operating Profit for First Half of 2018 Aug. 15, 2018. - Bridgestone Corp. (TYO:5108) has released its business results for the first half of calendar 2018, showing 1.9 percent year-on-year sales growth to total 1.78 trillion yen ($15.98 billion) for the period. Meanwhile, the company’s operating profit fell 1.4 percent to 199.43 billion yen, ordinary profit was down 2.6 percent to 190.76 billion yen, and net profit was up 2.1 percent […]
Yokohama Rubber Develops Car Air Conditioning Hoses For Refrigerant HFO-1234yf Aug. 2, 2018. - Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. (TYO:5101) recently announced that it has developed a new series of car air conditioning hoses that offer compatibility with HFO-1234yf. A next-generation refrigerant, HFO-1234yf is finding increasing use in automotive air conditioning, especially by North American automakers. The new hose series includes both high-pressure and low-pressure products, and has already been adopted for use in the […]Toyoda Gosei Sets Up New Indian Base to Accelerate Engineering and Development Jul. 26, 2018. - Toyoda Gosei Co. Ltd. (TYO:7282), a member of the Toyota Group, has opened a new base for Indian subsidiary Toyoda Gosei Minda India Pvt. Ltd. (TGMIN). The base is intended to handle engineering and sales matters, and is located in Gurgaon, near Delhi. Employees at the location have been tasked with developing, designing and selling a range of products – […]
Zeon’s Elastomer Business Sees Rising Sales, Falling Profits for First Quarter Aug. 10, 2018. - Zeon Corp. (TYO:4205) has released its results for the first quarter of fiscal 2018, showing its sales for the period as having risen 1.1 percent year-on-year to reach 83.67 billion yen ($754.26 million). Meanwhile, the company’s operating profit was down 13 percent to 8.46 billion yen, while its ordinary profit fell 10.6 percent to 9.66 billion yen and its net […]JSR Posts Major Sales Increase for First Quarter on Back of Strong Elastomer Demand Aug. 7, 2018. - Synthetic rubber manufacturer JSR Corp. (TYO:4185) has posted sales of 122.26 billion yen ($1.1 billion) for the first quarter of fiscal 2018, up 20.9 percent from the same quarter last year. Meanwhile, the company’s operating profit was down 9.6 percent year-on-year to 11.48 billion yen, with its net profit falling 5.4 percent to 8.94 billion yen. Sales at JSR’s elastomers […]
Interview: Toyoda Gosei President Highlights Plans for Lighter, Quieter EVs Feb. 15, 2018. - Sitting down for a recent interview with Japan Rubber Weekly, Toyoda Gosei Co. Ltd. (TYO:7282) President Naoki Miyazaki said that the automotive industry is entering a massive, once-in-a-century turning point. Such a shake-up to business is an opportunity for growth, he said. Miyazaki spoke on the impact of electrification and Toyoda Gosei’s strategy to deal with it, saying that although […]Tigers Polymer President Kentaro Watanabe Eyes Increased Sales, Production for 2018 Feb. 9, 2018. - Tigers Polymer Corp. (TYO:4231) President Kentaro Watanabe recently sat down with Japan Rubber Weekly to talk about his company’s overseas operations for 2017 and where he expects to see things go here moving forward. Sales for the industrial rubber and resin products manufacturer are generally in good shape across the Americas, Southeast Asia and China, Watanabe said, particularly in China. […]
Zeon Co-Develops New Technology to Produce Isoprene From Biomass Jul. 31, 2018. - Zeon Corp. (TYO:4205) has worked with the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (Riken) and Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. (TYO:5101) to co-develop a new technology for producing isoprene – a raw material used in synthetic rubber – from biomass in a stable and efficient manner. By constructing a world-first artificial pathway and creating highly active enzymes, the research project has […]
Bridgestone Develops Earthquake Response Analysis Model for High-Damping Rubber Bearings Jul. 30, 2018. - Bridgestone Corp. (TYO:5108) recently announced that it has developed an earthquake response analysis model for its high-damping bearings, which form part of the company’s lineup of seismic isolation rubber products. These efforts were made in conjunction with Kazuhiko Kasai, an adjunct professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, and Masaru Kikuchi, a professor from Hokkaido University. The newly developed analysis […]
First-Half Rubber Belt Production Down 2% Year-on-Year Aug. 9, 2018. - Japan’s total production of rubber belts for January–June declined 2 percent year-on-year to 13,169 tons, according to a set of rubber and resin belt statistics recently released by the Japan Belting Manufacturers Association. Factors behind this included a fall in domestic demand for conveyor belts and flat demand, both domestically and in exports, for transmission belts. Looking specifically at rubber […]
JRW Survey: Industry Leaders Raise Concerns Over Raw Material Price Hikes, Labor Shortages Aug. 8, 2018. - Japan Rubber Weekly recently conducted a survey on business conditions in the rubber and resin industries, targeting 157 major domestic product manufacturers. With 115 of these companies sending back answers, the response rate was 73.2 percent. The results showed that while business conditions are fair, respondents are concerned by labor shortages, surging logistics costs and trends to raw material prices. […]
