Shin-Etsu Chemical Co. Ltd. (TYO:4063) announced on April 11 that it will be raising domestic and overseas prices alike for all of its silicone products. Prices here are set to rise by 10 percent, with the change applying to shipments for May onward. Explaining its decision here, the major silicone rubber products manufacturer noted that silicon metal – the key...
Materials
Sanyo Trading Opens Combined Database for Rubber Materials and Chemical Products
Raw material trading firm Sanyo Trading Co. Ltd. (TYO:3176) on April 1 launched the chemical product website Chembase (Japanese only). The new website will serve as a combined database for both the rubber materials and the chemical products handled by the Sanyo Trading Group. It contains the latest information on over 80 manufacturers and 110 product groups, allowing for a...
Asahi Kasei Raises Prices on Synthetic Rubber, Styrenic TPEs and More From This Month
Asahi Kasei Corp. (TYO:3407) is set to raise its prices starting April 1 for synthetic rubber, styrenic thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) and styrene-based specialty transparent resins. Per-kilogram prices are set to rise by 40 yen ($0.33) for butadiene rubber, oil-extended styrene–butadiene rubber (SBR) and non-oil-extended SBR. Meanwhile, there will be a 60 yen price hike for styrenic TPEs, hydrogenated styrenic TPEs...

Zeon Plans HNBR Production Increase at Takaoka Plant
Zeon Corp. (TYO:4205) is looking to boost production capacity for its Zetpol series of hydrogenated nitrile rubber (HNBR). Plans here are to remove bottlenecks from the production facilities of Zeon’s Takaoka Plant in Toyama. This is set to provide a roughly 10 percent capacity increase to the plant’s 4,000-ton annual capacity. Efforts toward this end will begin this autumn, when...
Dow Chemical Japan Hikes Prices on Functional Chemical Products
Dow Chemical Japan Ltd. has raised its prices on functional chemical products, starting with supply on March 20. Ethanolamines and ethyleneamines from the company are up by 50 yen ($0.42) per kilogram; propylene glycol ethers by 35 yen per kilogram, or 40 yen for electronic material grades; isopropanolamines, ethylene glycol ethers, functional glycol ethers, propionic acid, alcohols and esters by...
Tosoh to Hike Prices on All Polyethylene Resin Products Starting April
Tosoh Corp. (TYO:4042) has announced that it is set to raise prices on all of its polyethylene products by at least 40 yen ($0.34) per kilogram starting with shipments supplied from April 1 onward. The price hike will apply to Petrothene, a low-density polyethylene (LDPE) product; Nipolon-L and Nipolon-Z, both linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) products; Lumitac, an ultralow-density polyethylene (ULDPE)...