Conducting a survey over early- to mid-July, Japan Rubber Weekly asked 158 Japanese manufacturers of rubber and resin products about their business outlooks, earnings forecasts and more. The responses coming back from 107 companies indicated a deepening sense of market opacity. In addition to rising uncertainty around international situations such as the U.S.–China trade war, several domestic factors – including...
Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. (TYO:5101) has carried out joint R&D efforts with two academic partners to develop a catalyst system with the world’s highest productivity for creating butadiene from bioethanol. The company has then also been successful at using this butadiene in the synthesis of butadiene rubber. For its research here, Yokohama Rubber worked with the National Institute of Advanced...
Kyoto University Professor Mikihito Takenaka recently took up the mantle of president at the Society of Rubber Science and Technology, Japan (SRIJ), an organization made up of rubber researchers and experts. Coming into the job with lofty aspirations, Takenaka plans to proactively carry out personnel exchange projects with overseas partners. The SRIJ has so far signed a memorandum of understanding...
Yokohama Tire Corp. (YTC), a U.S. sales subsidiary of Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. (TYO:5101), recently announced that it has received an Excellent Performance Award from Subaru Corp. (TYO:7270) U.S. subsidiary Subaru of Indiana Automotive Inc. (SIA). The award was granted to YTC for its supply of the Avid S34P tire, which the company provides as OE for the Subaru Impreza....
Toyo Tire Corp. (TYO:5105) has announced that it will be raising prices on domestic aftermarket tire shipments from Aug. 1 onward. This comes as factors such as a labor shortage prompt a surge in distribution costs for the sector – a trend that looks set to continue going forward. The company has outlined a price hike of 3 percent to...
Michelin Group and General Motors Co. (GM) recently announced that they have developed the Michelin Uptis Prototype, a new generation of airless wheel technology for passenger cars. The companies presented this prototype at the Movin’On Summit for 2019, a recent event aimed at achieving more sustainable mobility on a global level. Michelin and GM are continuing to conduct joint R&D...
