The Japanese Rubber Workers Union Confederation (JRC) has set out on its annual spring labor offensive for 2022. The bulk of demands here have now come in, especially those from the unions of large manufacturers. Looking at these demands, the weighted average wage increase demanded by 42 unions comes out to an extra 5,579 yen ($45.78) per month, or a...
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Yokohama Rubber Receives ABINC Certification for Mie, Shinshiro Plants
Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. (TYO:5101) has announced that its Mie Plant and Shinshiro Plant received “Business Location in Harmony with Nature” certification last month from the Association for Business Innovation in harmony with Nature and Community (ABINC), highlighting these locations as plants that pay heed to biodiversity. This now makes for five Yokohama Rubber plants that have received this certification,...
Yokohama Rubber Plans Increase to Conveyor Belt Production Capacity
Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. (TYO:5101) is looking to increase production capacity for conveyor belts at its Hiratsuka Factory in Kanagawa. This comes as part of a broader effort to bolster the company’s business for industrial materials. Plans are to conduct the expansion here in stages, with the first stage amounting to an investment of around 1.6 billion yen ($13.22 million)....
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...
Bridgestone Stops Russian Tire Exports on March 14, Production on March 18
Bridgestone Corp. (TYO:5108) announced on March 14 that it would be stopping its production of tires in Russia, as well as its tire exports to the country. On the production front, Bridgestone is suspending operations at its Russian plant for passenger car tires – located in Ulyanovsk – and freezing all new capital investment in the country. The company decided...
Sumitomo Rubber, Academic Researchers Use Tomato Enzymes to Shine Light on Natural Rubber Synthesis
New findings from a collaborative research project involving Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd. (TYO:5110) could lead to an improved supply of natural rubber. Working in collaboration here with Tohoku University, Kanazawa University and the Riken SPring-8 Center, Sumitomo Rubber has managed to elucidate the structure and modify the functionality of cis-prenyltransferase NDPS1, a tomato-derived enzyme with a structure similar to that...
