The four main tire manufacturers based in Japan have now all announced their results for calendar 2022. With sales volume on the rise, a weak yen, and a spate of price hikes made in response to surging raw material costs and other costs, all four of these companies saw their revenue increase for the year. However, they were split with...
Industry
Sumitomo Riko Joins Culnet Consortium
Sumitomo Riko has joined the Culnet Consortium, an open innovation platform for cellular agriculture presided over by Integriculture. With the world population expected to reach 10 billion by the 2050s and concerns over food shortages due to depletion of energy, feed, land, and water, cellular agriculture to produce cultured meat is attracting attention as one alternative protein source. Integriculture is...
Mitsubishi Chemical Group, Mitsui Chemicals Launch Study Into Joint Chemical Logistics
Mitsubishi Chemical and Mitsui Chemicals have launched a joint study with the aim of standardizing and optimizing chemical logistics, which serve as a backbone for both society and industry. Over time, the companies intend to launch various efforts in a number of relevant areas, with those that can be quickly put in place set to be implemented starting this fiscal...
Lanxess and Covestro Cooperate on More Climate-Friendly Production
German chemical companies Lanxess and Covestro have agreed to cooperate in the production of energy-intensive basic chemicals and to take climate change more into consideration at their production sites located on the Lower Rhine River in Germany. Currently, Lanxess sources chlorine, caustic soda, and hydrogen from Covestro’s ISCC PLUS certified sites in Leverkusen and Krefeld-Uerdigen, Germany. Following the agreement, Covestro...

Bridgestone Partners With Ascent Robotics in Push for Soft Robotics
Last month saw Bridgestone establish its first in-house venture company, Soft Robotics Ventures, in an effort to speed up advances in the realm of soft robotics. And now, as of Feb. 1, the tire manufacturer has signed a capital partnership agreement with Ascent Robotics, a developer and provider of intelligent robot systems. The agreement will see Bridgestone invest 500 million...
Michelin Partners With DHL Express for Pilot Test of Next-Gen Airless Tires
Michelin has partnered with DHL Express to trial the Michelin UPTIS Prototype, a next-gen airless tire. This partnership will mark the first real-world use of the innovative tire, with plans for some 50 DHL vehicles in Singapore to be fitted with UPTIS tires by the end of 2023. Michelin first announced in June 2019 that it was targeting a 2024...