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Evonik Acquires Degussa Engineered Carbons

Evonik Industries has acquired the remaining 50 per cent of shares in its former carbon black Joint Venture – Degussa Engineered Carbons (DEC), effectively 29 October 2007. DEC will now be a 100 per cent owned subsidiary of Evonik. Financial details of the transaction have not been disclosed.

“Carbon black is one of our strategic growth areas that we are systematically expanding. This transaction underlines Evonik’s commitment in the North American market and will add significant value to our Group,” said Dr. Klaus Engel, Member of the Management Board of Evonik and responsible for the Chemicals business area. Thomas Hermann, head of Evonik’s Advanced Fillers & Pigments Business Unit, commented: “The acquisition is an important step to consolidate our position in one of our key strategic markets, and will help us to serve our global key accounts even better.”

1st November 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Michelin Makes Energy Saving Big News

Michelin wants the world to know that its energy saving tyres reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions – and on October 30 the French tyre major launched a novel new method of getting its message across. Every evening at 7pm the company will project “Green” meters onto prominent landmarks in four major world cities. These meters will display the estimated fuel savings and reductions in CO2 emissions achieved since 1992, the year Michelin first released low rolling resistance tyres with silica used in part as a substitute for carbon black.

Featuring Bibendum, the iconic Michelin Man, the meters will be projected onto the façade of the Park Inn Hotel in Berlin, the NASDAQ and Reuters boards in New York’s Times Square, the Port de Suffren at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, and on the City Group Mansion tower, across from the Bund, in Shanghai – four cities, says Michelin, whose growth has been driven by the mobility of the goods and people who come and go every day.

31st October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Company Taps into Scrap Tyres for Carbon Black

(Akron/Tire Review – Recycling Today) Delta-Energy LLC, Monroeville, Pennsylvania, has introduced two carbon black-based products recovered from tyre shred that can be used as alternatives to virgin carbon black in rubber and plastic compounds. The products were introduced in mid-October at the 2007 Rubber Expo, held in Cleveland, Ohio. Delta-Energy has been test marketing the product line for the past two years with good industry reception, according to the company. “We are extremely excited about the D-E Black product lines – Phoenix Black for rubber reinforcement and Zephyr Black for plastic and coatings pigmentation,” says Bill Cole, Delta-Energy’s vice president-product management. “Phoenix Black’s reinforcing properties are comparable to virgin carbon blacks.”

26th October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Dunlop Announces latest Addition to Sportmax Range

Prominent motorcycle tyre manufacturer Dunlop has launched the Sportmax Roadsmart, designed for sport touring motorcycles. This is a tyre that Dunlop is confident delivers outstanding performance on wet roads and matchless all around sport touring performance, qualities that are the fruit of more than two years global research effort.

The new tyre, which is reported to out-perform its predecessor, the Sportmax D220ST, in all areas, shows strong performance improvement on wet surfaces. This result was obtained whilst improving the conflicting demand of mileage performance, which was already recognised as one of the major strengths of the Sportmax D220ST.

“These improvements result from the combination of our latest Dunlop Sportmax hypersport tyres’ attributes with new compounding and construction technologies for an optimised performance in all riding, road and weather conditions,” said Sanjay Khanna, managing director Dunlop Motorcycle.

2nd October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Linglong to Build New 40,000 m2 Factory

Shandong Linglong Rubber Co. has announced plans to construct a new 40,000 m2 factory for the production of passenger-car/light truck tyres. Online news sources quoted Jiang Guibo, Shandong Linglong's import and export business business chief, as saying that the new plant will be built in Shandong province, will cost 1.5 billion yuan (£100 million, 141 million euros), and will focus on high performance products.

26th September 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Degussa to Raise Carbon Black Prices in September

Specialty chemical producer Degussa has announced a price increase for carbon blacks, effective 15 September 2007. Prises will rise between 6 and 10 per cent, depending on the product or the region.

4th September 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Carbon Black Producer to Invest in Europe and Asia

Carbon black producer Columbian Chemicals has announced two key projects it intends to carry out in Europe and Asia. A cogeneration facility is planned for the company’s Trecate Plant in San Martino di Trecate, Italy. This unit will generate up to 15 megawatts of power. And in China production capacity at Columbian Chemicals’ Weifang facility will be expanded to 70,000 tonnes per year. The increased production capacity will be accomplished with the addition of one carcass line and debottlenecking the existing tread line.

“Growing the business in Asia is a key part of our long-term strategy, and success in Weifang is a very important start,” said JS Lee, Columbian Chemicals’ president and CEO. “The cogeneration facility is in line with our long-term operational strategy as well. We are committed to controlling costs, and conservation of energy is a significant part of that strategy.” At present the company is engaged in preliminary engineering work and acquiring long-delivery equipment for the Weifang project, and construction work is expected to be completed in August 2008.

16th August 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Phillips Carbon Black plans Vietnam JV

Phillips Carbon Black Ltd reported on July 4 that it has signed an initial pact with the Vietnam National Chemical Corp to conduct a study into the feasibility of a joint venture facility in Vietnam. If such an arrangement proves viable Phillips Carbon Black say they will hold a majority stake in the new company. Company chairman Sanjiv Goenka has stated that a joint venture with Vietnam National Chemical would require an investment of around £30.6 million.

5th July 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Degussa Targets South American Tyre Market

Degussa GmbH has doubled its carbon black production capacity in Paulinia, Brazil, to 100,000 tons per year. The move will make the company the world’s second largest manufacturer of carbon black with approximately 1.4 million tons per year.

“We have invested a total of 65 million euros ($85 million) in Brazil…Carbon black is one of the strategic growth areas that we are systematically expanding. This capacity enhancement allows us to serve the demand of our customers in the tyre and technical rubber-products industry even better. We are very optimistic overall regarding future growth in the rubber industry,” commented Dr. Klaus Engel, Chairman of the Board of Degussa GmbH at the opening of the plant.

Brazil is a core market for the Degussa’a Advanced Fillers & Pigments Business Unit. In the Brazilian market, around 90 per cent of the demand for carbon black comes from the tyre and technical rubber articles industry, and 10 per cent is used as pigment in plastics, dyes, enamels and print inks.

28th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

India & China Fuelling Increased Carbon Black Demand

According to the US market research organisation the Freedonia Group, worldwide demand for carbon black is forecast to rise by 4.2 per cent per annum, reaching an annual consumption of 11 million tonnes in 2011. Consumption is predicted to particularly grow in the Asia-Pacific region, thanks to the continuing expansion of China and India’s automotive and tyre industries. These two countries also saw the largest increases in new carbon black capacity between 2001 and 2006. In contrast, Freedonia states that it expects demand in developed regions to “post below-average gains through 2011, with the large US and Japanese markets holding particularly weak prospects.”

Two-thirds of this anticipated demand will come from the tyre industry, which is expected to account for 7.1 million tonnes by 2011. And with little construction of new carbon black production facilities, utilisation rates in developed markets is predicted to remain at 95 per cent or higher.

4th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Kuo and Cabot to Further Invest in Mexican Carbon Black Production

Grupo Kuo, S.A.B. de C.V., formerly known as Desc, S.A.B. de C.V. has announced that it and Cabot International Capital Corporation, shareholders of carbon black manufacturer Nhumo, S.A. de C.V. have approved capital investment plans for the Nhumo production facility in Altamira, Mexico. The capital investment plans include the installation of a new cogeneration unit, as well as machinery and equipment upgrades that will increase the plant’s nameplate production capacity to approximately 150,000 tonnes per year by 2008.

The additional capacity will allow Nhumo to respond to increasing demand for carbon black in Mexico, already one of the world’s highest volume traders in the commodity. Kuo ranks as one of Mexico’s largest industrial groups, with annual sales of approximately US$1.8 billion and some 10,500 employees.

22nd May 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

India’s Birla Nuvo to Double Carbon Black Output

Aditya Birla Nuvo has announced plans to double its proposed greenfield expansion in the western region from 60,000 tonnes per annum to 120,000 tonnes per annum to capitalise on the rapidly growing tyre sector in India. The move would reportedly make Aditya Birla Nuvo the largest producer of carbon black in the domestic market, overtaking RPG Group-controlled Philips Carbon Black Company.

29th March 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Cabot Announces First Quarter Results

Tyre industry carbon black supplier Cabot Corporation has announced a net income of US$54 million for the first quarter of 2007. This is almost double their net income for the same fiscal period a year ago, in which a net income of US$24 million was achieved.

26th January 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

European Commission Awards LIFE-Environment Grant to Goodyear

The European Commission has awarded Goodyear a major research and development grant for development of an ultra low rolling resistance tyre with environmentally friendly resources. The grant of three million euros is part of the European Union’s LIFE-Environment program. The total cost of the project is more than 12 million euros. Goodyear is working in close co-operation with two research partners on this project – the Italian research company Novamont and the German carmaker BMW.

20th November 2006/by Tyrepress Editors

Scrap Tyre Co-operation Down Under

In Australia, a recycler named John MacVicar has suggested that a diesel fuel production facility that he is planning to build north of Adelaide could import scrap tyres from New Zealand as raw material. Mr. MacVicar, who heads up AAA Recycling in South Australia, is said to be currently recycling tyres offshore.

5th September 2006/by Tyrepress Editors