Osaka Soda Co. Ltd. (TYO:4046) will raise the price of its Epichlomer line of epichlorohydrin rubber by 35 yen ($0.31) per kilogram for shipments beginning Jan. 10, 2018. The company said that it has tried cost-cutting to deal with rising raw material prices. However, tighter epichlorohydrin supplies relative to demand, coupled with increasing prices for monomers and other primary ingredients,...
Sumitomo Riko Co. Ltd. (TYO:5191) is gearing up to grow its business for general industrial products in non-automotive sectors. These plans include starting overseas production of water-developable flexographic printing plates and increasing the company’s overseas production bases for anti-vibration rubber for use in railcars. Sumitomo Riko will establish a production base for water developable flexographic printing plates in Turin, Italy,...
Molykote, a special lubricant produced and sold by Dow Corning Toray Co. Ltd., will celebrate its 70th year in 2018. Unlike regular lubricants, Molykote can withstand a large range of high and low temperatures while preventing wear and tear. It is used in automobile pistons and brakes to mitigate friction and to control vibrations, noise and squeaking. As a more...
Zeon Corp. (TYO:4205) has established a new local distributor for high-performance materials in California’s Silicon Valley. The company, Zeon Specialty Materials Inc. (ZSM), moved into its offices in October and will begin operating in January. The new entity will take over North American sales operations from fellow Zeon Group company Zeon Chemicals LP, which is based in Kentucky. More specifically,...
The supply–demand balance for chloroprene rubber (CR) is tightening worldwide. Japanese CR manufacturers report that they are barely able to keep up with increased demand from existing users, let alone meet new demand. CR’s good balance of physical properties means that this synthetic rubber has found a diverse array of applications. Unable to meet demand despite operating at full capacity,...
Shin-Etsu Chemical Co. Ltd. (TYO:4063) has announced a price change for all of its silicone products. Starting from shipments for January next year, the company will raise prices by 10 to 20 percent. The price of metallic silicon – a main raw material for silicone – has risen, and further increases are expected, a Shin-Etsu representative says. As it has...
