According to statistics compiled by the Japan Belting Industry Association, Japanese conveyor belt production in 2023 was 9,073 tons, down 5% from the previous year, marking the second consecutive year of decline and the second year in a row that production has fallen below 10,000 tons. Japanese domestic demand was boosted by an increase in automobile production due to the...
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Asahi Kasei has raised the prices of styrenic thermoplastic elastomers for shipments from April 1. The price increase is 70 yen ($0.46) or more per kilogram for styrenic thermoplastic elastomers, including Tufprene and Asaprene T, and 120 yen or more per kilogram for hydrogenated styrenic thermoplastic elastomers, including S.O.E. and Tuftec. The company said that with the recent sharp rise...
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Chloroprene rubber (CR) sales volume and prices are likely to bottom out in the second half of fiscal 2023 (October-March 2024). This comes with demand for CR currently being sluggish due to weak demand for industrial goods and adhesive applications, as well as inventory adjustment in automotive applications, where demand has been recovering. Supply chain inventories have built up significantly...
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Sumitomo Riko’s first half (April-September 2023) results (IFRS) showed net sales of 297.88 billion yen ($1.98 billion), up 16.5% year-on-year; operating income of 12.78 billion yen, compared with a loss of 894 million yen in the same period of the previous year; and net income of 5.83 billion yen, compared with a loss of 4.79 billion yen. By business segment,...
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Japanese automotive rubber parts suppliers in China continue to struggle. This is due to the decline in sales of electric vehicles (EVs) in China, where Japanese automakers are lagging behind their competitors. Japanese automotive rubber parts suppliers, which entered the Chinese market in the 2000s in response to Japanese automakers, are now facing a turning point. In China, the world’s...
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Zeon reported a 5.8% year-on-year decline in net sales to 91.9 billion yen ($648.9 million), a 43.0% drop in operating income to 6.1 billion yen, a 35.8% drop in ordinary income to 8.3 billion yen, and a 33.0% drop in net income to 5.8 billion yen for the first quarter of the year ending March 2024. In the elastomer materials...
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