Synthetic rubber production fell 5.6 percent year-on-year to 773,584 tons in the first half of 2016, according to the Synthetic Rubber Industry Association of Japan. Production was down for all categories year-on-year, including a 6.1 percent decline for styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR), a 2.8 percent decline for polybutadiene rubber (BR) and a 2.2 percent decline for ethylene propylene diene terpolymer (EPT)....
Materials
Tokai Carbon to Shut Down Carbon Black Production Line at Ishinomaki Plant
Tokai Carbon Co. Ltd. (TYO:5301) is planning to shut down one of four carbon black production lines at its Ishinomaki plant in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. Annual production capacity will be reduced from 60,000 to 46,000 tons within 2016. The plant supplies carbon black to tire factories and rubber-parts manufacturers throughout eastern Japan. In March 2011, production stopped after the...
Dow Chemical Showcases Solutions for Olympics, Lowering Carbon Emissions
Dow Chemical Co.’s (TYO:4850) Japanese subsidiary, Dow Chemical Japan, recently showcased to media members the company’s products used to help provide solutions at the Rio Olympics. Under the banner of using science to make the Rio 2016 Games a success, those solutions include curtailing and counter-balancing the carbon (CO2) footprint of the event. At the Rio Games, Dow Chemical’s Dowlex...
Shin-Etsu Polymer Increases Q1 Profits Despite Slight Drop in Sales
A major manufacturer of silicone products for the electronics and information industries, Shin-Etsu Polymer Co. Ltd. (TYO:7970), posted first quarter sales of 17.937 billion yen ($1.79 billion), representing a year-on-year decline of 1.1 percent. Meanwhile, operating profit for the same April–June period increased 118.5 percent, rising to 1.645 billion yen; pretax profit rose 3.9 percent, hitting 1.196 billion yen; and...
Carbon Black Shipments Down 3.3% for June, 4.6% for First Half
The shipment volume of carbon black for June fell 3.3 percent year on year, down at 49,414 tons, according to records compiled by the Japanese Carbon Black Association. This marked the seventh consecutive month of decline from the previous year’s results. Shipments of carbon black for rubber products were down 5.7 percent for tires, while that for general rubber products...
Carbon Black Shipping Volume Down 3% for June
Shipping volume for carbon black in June was 49,414 tons in June according to the Japanese Carbon Black Association. That was down 3 percent over the previous year and marked the seventh straight month of year-on-year declines. Carbon black for rubber products saw shipments down by 6 percent year on year for tires, while that for other general rubber products...

