Materials

Natural Rubber Import Volume Increases Almost 7 Percent in First Half

According to figures compiled by The Rubber Trade Association of Japan, the import volume of natural rubber from January to June 2015 was 367,159 tons, an increase of 6.8 percent compared to the same period of the previous year. The import amount was 70.6 billion yen (approximately $500 million), a decrease of 12.1 percent compared to the same period of...

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Kuraray Plans to Expand Genestar Applications to Automotive

Kuraray Co. Ltd. is proactively expanding toward the usage of its polyamide engineering plastic “Genestar” in automobiles. Genestar is a product developed by Kuraray from a unique monomer and boasts a variety of properties including low water absorption, high heat resistance, high chemical resistance, and high dimensional accuracy. The total production capacity is 9,000 tons in Kashima and 4,000 tons...

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Yokohama Rubber Develops Catalyst to Synthesize Butadiene From Cellulose

Tire manufacturer The Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd., has successfully developed a catalyst that allows the direct synthesis of butadiene from the bio-resource cellulose (a sugar that is a key component in plant fibers), in a joint research project with the Tokyo Institute of Technology. With eyes moving forward on the production of butadiene rubber (BR) — a synthetic rubber that...

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Japanese Synthetic Rubber Production Increases 0.7 Percent in First Half of 2015

According to a report by the Synthetic Rubber Manufacturers Association, the total amount of synthetic rubber produced in Japan during the January―June period 2015 was 819,403 tons, an increase of 0.7 percent over the same period last year. In particular, while SBR and CR showed decreases of 5.6 percent and 5.8 percent respectively from the same period lastyear, BR increased...

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