In the first half of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2026 (April to September), Zeon’s elastomer materials division reported a decrease in sales compared to the same period last year, but an increase in profits. Sales of synthetic rubber declined, reflecting weaker demand in certain segments. When examining sales trends by product type, general-purpose rubber for tires showed steady...
Materials
Resonac Focuses on Functional Solutions to Meet Niche Demands
In the first nine months of fiscal 2025 (January to September), Resonac saw a decline in sales of chloroprene rubber (CR) compared to the same period last year. “The decrease was attributed to the lingering effects of production issues in the previous year, which impacted sales during the first half of this year. However, we have started to recover sales...
Sumitomo Rubber Adopts Sustainable Carbon Black for First Time in Mass-Produced Tires
Sumitomo Rubber has become the first company to use resource-circulating carbon black, made from chemical recycling of used tires and other rubber materials, in some of its mass-produced passenger car tires. Production of these tires has begun at the Miyazaki plant in November 2025, accelerating the company’s efforts toward resource circulation. Resource-circulating carbon black is produced through the chemical recycling...
Sumitomo Riko Launches SG Building as Symbol of Vision 2029
Sumitomo Riko has commenced full-scale operations at the Sumitomo Riko Green Transformation Building (SG Building), constructed as a core hub for its infrastructure and living environment business. Built at the Komaki Plant in Komaki, Aichi Prefecture, the SG Building consolidates chemical products operations that had previously been dispersed across the site and serves as a model factory that achieves a...
NOK to Consolidate Japanese Subsidiaries into Five Companies
NOK will reorganize its Japanese domestic production bases and establish five new subsidiaries on April 1 next year. These companies will handle the production and sales of seal components, industrial functional parts, and other products. Through the reorganization, NOK aims to optimize the allocation of management resources, strengthen its production framework, enhance global competitiveness, and achieve sustainable business growth. In...
Tokai Carbon Sees Profits Surge: 9M results
Tokai Carbon reported its consolidated results for the first nine months of the fiscal year ending December 2025 (January–September). Net sales amounted to 237.34 billion yen ($1.53 billion), down 8.2% from the same period last year. Operating profit increased 40.0% to 21.30 billion yen, ordinary profit rose 30.8% to 21.06 billion yen, and net profit surged 192.9% to 16.35 billion...
