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Cabot Corporation ‘Repositioning’ in Light of Weaker Demand

Cabot Corporation reports it is expecting a significantly lower volume of sales in the first quarter of the 2009 financial year, and has decided to embark on a series of “aggressive actions” to address these ongoing market challenges.

“Global weakness in the tyre, automotive and construction industries, intensified by customer inventory reduction, is causing significant volume declines during the first quarter of fiscal 2009 in each of our major geographies,” said Cabot president and CEO Patrick Prevost. “First quarter volumes in our Rubber Blacks, Performance Products and Fumed Metal Oxides Businesses are expected to be 20-30 per cent lower than in the same period last year.

16th December 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Sevalco’s Bristol Carbon Black Plant to Close

Columbian Chemicals is to close its Sevalco carbon black facility in Avonmouth, Bristol, with the loss of some 88 jobs anticipated. The company says that the demand for carbon black has reduced significantly in recent months, and the decision to close the factory came only a day after it was announced that manufacturing activity in the UK had shrunk at a record pace during the last month.

8th December 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Columbian to Close US Carbon Black Plant

Due to softer demand for carbon black in North America, Columbian Chemicals announced on November 12 that it will close its production facilities in Marshall, West Virginia, on or around January 31, 2009. Approximately 55 jobs will be lost as a result of the closure.

13th November 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Carlisle Reports Reduced Q3 Net Income

Carlisle Companies Incorporated has reported net sales of US$832.5 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2008, a 14 per cent improvement over net sales of $730.4 million in the third quarter of 2007. Transportation product net sales were $205.2 million for the third quarter 2008, an increase of six per cent compared with net sales of $193.3 million in 2007. Softness in the consumer outdoor power equipment (OPE), high-speed trailer tyre and wheel, and styled wheel markets was offset by growth in the commercial OPE, ATV, and agricultural and construction tyre and wheel markets. Sales growth for specialised and pneumatic trailers more than offset continued softness in construction trailers, says the company.

27th October 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Columbian Tiszai Carbon Completes Hungary Expansion

Columbian Tiszai Carbon, the Hungarian operation of US-based Columbian Chemicals Company, has completed a HUF7-billion (£20.4 million) expansion at its base in Tiszaújváros, northeast Hungary, CEO László Dobos told Hungarian news source MTI Econews.

The investment has increased the facility’s carbon black capacity by 50 per cent to about 100,000 tons a year, Dobos said. Demand for the product has particularly grown since tyre manufacturers have set up production bases in Hungary and elsewhere in the region, he added. Most of the plant’s carbon black goes to tyre makers, and the rest goes to the plastics and paint industries.

17th October 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Phillips Carbon Black Commissions New Power Plant

Phillips Carbon Black has invested in a means of converting excess gas into energy and financial savings. The India based company has announced the commissioning of its 30 MW co-generation power plant Durgapur, in the state of West Bengal. The Rs 1 billion (£11.6 million) facility, which utilising the waste gas produced during the process to generate power, was commissioned on September 29.

3rd October 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Conti & Evonik Seek Olympic Gold

Continental AG claims that experts at German specialty chemicals company Evonik Industries have improved Germany’s outdoor Olympic cycling team’s chances of taking gold at the Beijing Olympics. Conti applications technician Wolfgang Arenz says that Evonik has helped Continental reduce the energy loss experienced by its tyres by 26 per cent through optimally interacting three rubber filler components: carbon black, silica, and organosilane. The filler system reduces rolling resistance, which means a cyclist increases speed for the same energy input, and improves grip on wet roads.

15th August 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Phillips Carbon Black Considering Greenfield Facility

India’s largest carbon black producer, Phillips Carbon Black Ltd, plans to establish a fourth facility and expand capacity at two existing plants, those at Baroda and Durgapur. Following the company’s recent AGM, company chairman Sanjeev Goenka indicated another facility, or alternatively a further acquisition of capacity, may be necessary now that existing capacity at the three factories in fully utilised. This fourth greenfield plant, should the company choose to take this option, may be located either within India or overseas.

29th July 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Tyre Pyrolysis Plant Boosts Octagon Profits

Malaysia’s Octagon Consolidated Bhd, operator of what is said to currently be the world’s largest tyre pyrolysis facility, expects its green energy division to contribute as much as 30 per cent to both company turnover and pre-tax profit in the financial year ending October. The company commissioned the 120 tonne per day plant in May, after more than four years of development.

3rd July 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Conti Tyre Prices to Increase in Asia

On June 18 Continental announced that, as of September 1, prices will increase for replacement market tyres sold in Asia by up to 10 per cent. In outlining the price rises, the company commented that “the market price for natural rubber, a key component used in tyres, continues to increase, while the price of oil and derived products, such as synthetic rubber and carbon black remain at historic high levels.” It added that this increase will only partially offset the raw material cost increases.

18th June 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

RPG Investing in CEAT, Philips Carbon Black

India’s RPG group recently outlined plans to invest Rs 30 billion (£357 million) in its tyre and carbon black subsidiaries over the next two years. In late May company chairman Rama Prasad Goenka told media that this investment was part of the group’s expansion programme, and that from the disclosed total, Rs 20 billion would be directed towards the Ceat Tyres operation and Rs 10 billion to Philips Carbon Black.

The investment was necessary if the company was to remain competitive following the government’s liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation policies, he said. The group was, he added, aiming to increase productivity, quality and facilities to workers by the expansion.

12th June 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Titan to Implement OEM Price Increase

Titan Tire Corporation has announced plans to implement a price increase for tyres and assemblies supplied to original equipment manufacturers, effective July 1, 2008. The increase will range from 7 per cent to 37 per cent, depending on the tyre, to offset rising costs for natural rubber, bead wire and oil-based material such as synthetic rubber and carbon black. Overall synthetic rubber shortages have also contributed to rising raw material costs, reports Titan.

These OE price increases follow those implemented for the aftermarket, which took effect June 1. Prices for aftermarket Titan, Goodyear and General branded OTR, farm and construction tyres increase between 4 per cent and 34 per cent.

10th June 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Alliance to Present Recovered Carbon Black at Bridgestone TC

Alliance Recovery Corporation has announced that company representatives have been invited to attend the Bridgestone Firestone US Technical Center in Akron, Ohio to present merits of their carbon black products. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss the use of Alliance carbon black in Bridgestone Firestone rubber formulations. The proposed meeting is scheduled to take place in late May 2008.

Alliance’s carbon black is produced as a by product of the thermal chemical process utilized to recover the fuel oil resource in scrap rubber that will be subsequently used to make electricity at Alliance installations. Alliance are presenting themselves as the green option in comparison to conventional carbon black production that uses large quantities of virgin fossil fuels. “We expect that each Alliance installation will be capable of producing approximately 15 Million pounds of carbon black annually as a byproduct. Commercial grades of carbon black that Alliance can produce are currently sold in the range of $.55/ pound to $.70/ pound. European market prices are significantly higher,” company representatives explained in a statement.

13th May 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

AV Birla Signing Land Deal for Mexico Carbon Black Plant

India’s Aditya Birla group is reported to be in the process of signing a land deal with the port authority of Altamira, in eastern Mexico. The purpose of the deal is to facilitate the establishment of a US$150 million carbon black facility. “We may sign the agreement next week,” commented AV Birla Group regional joint president Surendra Goyal. “The $150 million project will be completed in two years.”

According to Goyal, the region near the port, in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas was, selected as an entry point to the US, where naptha is cheaper. The Mexican carbon black facility will add to the company’s global capacity of around 790,000 tonnes per annum, an amount that makes the company the world’s fourth largest producer. In total the Aditya Birla group plans to invest about US$600 million to increase its carbon black manufacturing capacities in India and globally. Goyal, who heads the group’s operations in Latin America and Egypt, said the company also intends to set up a facility in Oman.

2nd May 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Titan to Raise Aftermarket Prices by up to 35%

Titan Tire Corporation has scheduled an increase in prices for aftermarket Titan, Goodyear and General branded OTR, farm and construction tyres, taking effect June 1, 2008. These increases will vary between 4 and 34 per cent, and the decision to implement the new prices is said to have resulted from rising costs for natural and synthetic rubber, carbon black, fabric, energy and transportation.

30th April 2008/by Tyrepress Editors