Tosoh will make a decision on the expansion of its chloroprene rubber (CR) plant, which the company is currently considering, within the current fiscal year, company president Mamoru Kuwada said at a management briefing meeting held on May 24. The company is considering increasing the capacity of its Nanyo Complex (Shunan City, Yamaguchi Prefecture), which currently produces 37,000 tons per...
Tosoh said it has developed Mersen S, an effective compatibilizer for material recycling of composite plastics such as multilayer films. The product is a special EVA resin with excellent compatibility with a wide range of resins and is used as a recycling aid for composite films. In an initiative with Kao Corporation, a major consumer goods chemical manufacturer, it was...
Shipment volume of rubber sheets (plates) may be showing signs of recovery: after falling 10.2% year-on-year in 2022 according to data compiled by the Japan Rubber Manufacturers Association, shipments turned positive in the January-March period of 2023, rising 1.6% year-on-year to 4,242 tons. Although automobile production did not fully recover in 2022 and was affected by inventory adjustments of parts,...
Bridgestone’s Chemicals & Diversified Products business achieved higher revenues in the first quarter (January-March) of fiscal 2023. In particular, the chemical products business, whose profitability has steadily been improving, and the diversified business in the Americas (pneumatic springs), which is expected to expand into EVs, are showing positive results. The key is seen to be rubber technology, which the company...
Mitsubishi Chemical has in May begun offering samples of the Durabio plant-derived bioengineering plastics D93 Series, a new grade of Durabio with a higher degree of biomass plasticity. Durabio is a bio-based engineering plastic made from isosorbide, a renewable plant-derived raw material that reduces the consumption of petroleum, a depletable resource, and also contributes to the reduction of greenhouse gases...
In its business results for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2023 (IFRS basis), Sumitomo Riko posted sales of 541.01 billion yen ($3.92 billion), up 21.3% year-on-year; business profit of 17.87 billion yen, up 176.3%; and net income of 6.68 billion yen, compared with a loss of 6.35 billion yen in the previous year. By business segment, sales in the...
