Shipment volume of rubber sheets (plates) is declining. According to statistics compiled by the Japan Rubber Industry Association, shipments from January to May 2022 totaled 6,908 tons, down 7.3 percent from the same period last year. In 2021, the market recovered from the decline caused by the coronavirus pandemic and remained generally firm throughout the year. However, the recovery trend...
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Bridgestone to Move Some Aircraft Retread Tire Production From China to Thailand
Bridgestone is set to consolidate part of its aircraft retread tire production facilities in Asia. As part of this move, production in Hong Kong, China will cease at the end of June 2023, and will then be consolidated at Bridgestone Aircraft Tire Manufacturing in Thailand. The Hong Kong subsidiary currently supplies retreaded tires to airlines in Asia and Oceania except...
Shikoku Plans New Facilities for Insoluble Sulfur, a Key Raw Material for Radial Tires
Shikoku Chemicals is set to build new facilities for insoluble sulfur at its Marugame Plant in Marugame, Kagawa. Construction here is scheduled to span April 2023 – October 2024, after which the new facilities will begin production in December 2024. Coming at a total investment of 4.5 billion yen ($32.8 million), the new facilities are set to boost Shikoku’s production...
EPDM Rubber Trends: Mitsui Chemicals
Mitsui Chemicals’ ethylene-propylene rubber (EPDM) plant operations remained at a high level in fiscal 2021. In the first half of the year, from April to September, the supply-demand situation remained tight. Sales remained steady, however, in the second half from October to March, despite being affected to a small extent by the shortage of semiconductors and reduced car production. The...
Michelin Promotes Sustainable Natural Rubber Cultivation and Forest Conservation
Michelin has become the sole owner of Royal Lestari Utama (RLU) after purchasing the 51 percent of the joint venture previously held by Barito Pacific Group. RLU is a project initiated in 2015 by Michelin and Indonesian partners that aims to combine sustainable natural rubber cultivation and forest conservation on approximately 70,000 hectares in Jambi, Sumatra, and 18,000 hectares in...
Zeon Establishes Basic Sustainability Policy
Zeon recently revised its basic CSR policy, which is the basic approach to its corporate activities, and established a new basic sustainability policy effective July 1. The company aims to achieve the 2030 vision of its medium-term management plan by developing its CSR management of the past into a sustainability management with a broader perspective. Under its basic CSR policy,...
