Nikka Shoko (Japan) Co. Ltd., a trader of industrial rubber and plastic products, and Hotty Polymer Co. Ltd., a manufacturer of rubber and plastic goods for the automotive and construction sectors, recently co-exhibited at Thailand’s T-PLAS 2017 trade fair. The fair, which shows opportunities for the plastics and rubber industries under the country’s Thailand 4.0 economic model, which was held...
Industry
Tohoku University Associate Professor Receives Bioindustry Research Award for Joint Research With Sumitomo Rubber
Seiji Takahashi, associate professor at Tohoku University’s Graduate School of Engineering, recently received the Japan Bioindustry Association’s 1st Bioindustry Research Award for his joint research with Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd. (TYO:5110), which shed light on natural rubber biosynthesis mechanisms and in vitro rubber synthesis. The research revealed that three types of protein play a major role in the biosynthetic mechanism...
JSR Adopts AI Strategy to Boost Plant Safety and Productivity
JSR Corp. (TYO:4185) has teamed up with Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. (TYO:9432), commonly known as NTT, and Accenture PLC on a proof-of-concept project for a next generation smart industrial complex at JSR’s Chiba Plant. The project integrates JSR’s expertise in operation management and maintenance tasks with state-of-the-art technology from NTT Advanced Technology Corp. and others within the NTT Group....
12th TPE Technology Institute Open Seminar Features Speakers From Tokyo and Fukuoka Universities, Zeon
The Research Association of Nano Structured Polymer recently held the 12th TPE Technology Institute Open Seminar, which was host to lectures on three topics. First to present was Sadaharu Hashimoto, R&D manager at Zeon Corp.’s (TYO:4205) R&D Center. His presentation, titled “Development of Novel Elastic Materials: Asymmetric Triblock Styrene Copolymer,” previously received an award from the Society of Polymer Science,...
Bridgestone Americas to Sell All Shares of Speedco
Bridgestone Americas Inc. (BSAM), the U.S. subsidiary of Bridgestone Corp. (TYO:5108), announced on Sept. 15 that it will sell all shares of its wholly owned subsidiary Speedco Inc. to U.S.-based Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores Inc. The sale price was not disclosed. Speedco provides automotive lube, maintenance and other services to the trucking industry, and owns 52 stores in...
Carbon Black Association Releases Updated Demand Estimates for 2017
The Carbon Black Association of Japan has released a mid-year update to its estimates of 2017 demand for carbon black. Demand including exports is now projected to rise 0.5 percent from last year to a total of 750,785 tons. While demand in tons has been downwardly revised from the previously projected 753,115 tons, the new figures indicate higher expected growth...

