Domestic Japanese demand for organic rubber chemicals came to 17,642 tons for calendar 2018, up by 1.5 percent year-on-year. This marks a second consecutive year of growth in the market, driven largely by strong production of rubber products. Strong results can also be seen in the month-by-month breakdown, with September, November and December being the only months to post negative...
Industry
Wholesalers in Greater Kanto Region Show Pessimistic Outlook for Belt and Hose Sales
Forecasts for belt and hose sales in 2019 are showing a pessimistic outlook despite what have been favorable market conditions so far this year. These findings come from TGS, an association of industrial rubber product wholesalers in the greater Kanto region. Conducting an independent survey as part of a report on belt and hose trade flows for 2018, TGS found...
Rubber Unions Make New Demands for Wage Increases
The Japan Rubber Workers Union Confederation (JRC), an organization made up of rubber unions encompassing tire, rubber auto part, industrial rubber product and shoe manufacturers, has set out on its annual spring labor offensive for 2019. Focusing on major manufacturers, this initiative has seen the bulk of the relevant labor unions – of which there are 54 as of March...
Japanese Belt Exports Stay Flat for 2018 While Imports Rise 16%
Japan’s rubber belt exports for 2018 were largely unchanged year-on-year at a value of 39.62 billion yen ($356.06 million), according to foreign trade statistics released by the Ministry of Finance (MoF) and put together by the Japan Belting Manufacturers Association. Rubber belt exports to the U.S. – the Japanese sector’s top customer here – were up 11 percent year-on-year, while...
Sumitomo Rubber Works With German Research Institute to Clarify Processes Behind Natural Rubber Failure
Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd. (TYO:5110) has managed a world-first success in shedding light on the crystallization process that occurs at the tips of cracks in natural rubber – crystallization referring here to rubber molecules becoming aligned in the direction of elongation when the rubber is stretched. The company’s research on this was carried out in conjunction with the Leibniz Institute...
Japan’s Synthetic Rubber Production Falls 3% Year-on-Year for 2018
Japan’s production of synthetic rubber fell by 3.2 percent year-on-year to end at just under 1.57 million tons for 2018, according to figures recently released by the Synthetic Rubber Industry Association of Japan. In terms of individual rubber types, the country’s production of chloroprene rubber (CR) rose 1.8 percent year-on-year to reach 126,114 tons for 2018, while that for ethylene...