The competition over studless winter tire sales has gotten properly under way for another year. Even as they acknowledge the market’s unpredictability amid the continued pandemic, each tire manufacturer here is aiming to boost sales by expanding their SUV-related product lineups, as well as by making the most of the lessons they learned from pursuing sales in the midst of...
Bridgestone Corp.’s (TYO:5108) hose business has shown promising trends with its first-half results for calendar 2021. With demand marking a V-shaped recovery from last year both in Japan and overseas, the company’s business here has managed year-on-year increases in both sales revenue and profit, with the former of these metrics rising by double digits. Domestically, hose demand in OE applications...
Companies in the rubber and plastic hose sector are continuing to see a good level of sales for their plastic hoses and tubes. Amid high global demand for semiconductors and related products, a surge of activity has come about surrounding hoses and tubes for use in semiconductor manufacturing equipment. On top of this, the likes of suction hoses for use...
With automotive production bouncing back from the lows brought by COVID-19, rubber-related auto parts too have seen a recovery in both production and shipment numbers. Looking at Japan’s automotive production figures from last year, it is apparent that production volume started to fall by double digits year-on-year in April 2020, marking a trend that then continued for some time. Following...
Rubber industry earnings reports for the fiscal year through March 2021 show a second-half recovery from nearly across-the-board first-half negative revenue and profit performance due to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic that struck early in 2020. The second-half turnaround reflected a worldwide economic recovery, powered in large part by strong performance in the Chinese and U.S. automotive industries....
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to make it difficult to secure containers for imports and exports, and Japan’s rubber industry is no exception. Further, with the potential for the issues here to not only hinder stable product supply but also drive up costs, there are a number of players in the industry voicing concern over the current state of affairs. As...
