The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. has announced a revision to its Procurement Policy for Sustainable Natural Rubber, which take effect this month. The revision to the procurement policy established in October 2018 incorporates the policy framework adopted by the Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber (GPSNR) at its second general assembly in September 2020.
Research into the use of locally sourced rubber in tyre manufacture has led to Continental’s Dr Carla Recker being nominated for a prestigious award in her native Germany. Together with fellow researchers Prof. Dr Dirk Prüfer from the University of Münster and Dr Christian Schulze Gronover from the Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology IME, Recker has been shortlisted for the ‘Deutscher Zukunftspreis 2021’, an award for technology and innovation bestowed by Germany’s President.
The latest figures from the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC) suggest that year-on-year growth in global natural rubber supply won’t be quite as high as previously anticipated and will be lower than expected demand. The ANRPC has downwardly revised its full-year outlook on global natural rubber supply for 2021 to 13.782 million tonnes.
Locally harvested natural rubber is the key raw material that Sri Lankan tyre maker GRI Tires utilises. It thus views natural rubber farmers as important stakeholders in the ‘GRI ecosystem’. This is an ecosystem that “focuses on sustainability and aims to inspire the farming communities by recognising their work as well as providing knowledge and skills for their development and optimising the yields from their natural rubber farms.”
Toyo Tire Corporation has re-examined and updated its natural rubber procurement policy and established this as an independent policy separate from the company’s CSR Procurement Guidelines that prescribe the proper procurement process for the Toyo Tire Group (the Group).
Agricultural tyres generally appear quite similar irrespective of brand, making it difficult to spot at a glance the difference between discount tyres and higher-priced premium products. Bridgestone observes that price thus “wrongly becomes a differentiating element” with these products. The tyre maker is concerned that some may gain the impression they’re paying extra for the brand rather than the tyre, and wishes to set the record straight.
Sri Lankan tyre maker GRI Tires strives to be a responsible company that always recognises the importance of giving back to the country and its people, especially in times of need. Managing director Prabhash Subasinghe states that it “is ingrained in our DNA as an organisation to give back to society.”
Continental is extending its commitment to sustainability in the natural rubber supply chain. The tyre maker and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) have agreed to significantly expand their project to ensure full traceability within the natural rubber supply chain in the Indonesian province of West Kalimantan (Borneo).
Kumho Tire Co., South Korea’s second-largest tire maker, said Tuesday it will sell its natural rubber processing plant in Vietnam to focus on its core business. According to an official statement published on 23 March 2021, Kumho Tire said it has struck a deal with a joint venture between Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Co. and Thanh Cong Group of Vietnam to sell its rubber factory.
Bridgestone Corporation reports it has developed a new technology for improving the rubber productivity of guayule plants. It worked on this technology in a joint development project with Kirin Holdings Company, Limited, a company perhaps better known for beer and other beverages.
The dream of securing natural rubber supplies in the vicinity of production facilities and reducing dependency upon hevea rubber plantations has preoccupied Bridgestone Corporation for the past decade. Early in 2018 it announced a collaboration with genomic big data company NRGene to advance the commercialisation of guayule, and today Bridgestone shared the results of this four-year project. The combined effort has resulted in the partners successfully assembling a specific guayule genome.
Vietnam Rubber Group says it achieved its revenue and profit targets for 2020, reporting profit of VNĐ5 trillion (roughly US$200 million) on sales of VNĐ25.477 trillion ($1 billion), according to the Vietnam News Agency. As a result of these figures, the company reports that its goals include restructuring and increased investment in the rubber sector with possible mergers that would help close the rubber tyre and tube products value chain.
GRI recently held two outreach events with some of the natural rubber farming communities it works with. The events were held under GRI’s Green X Circle initiative which supports Sri Lanka’s farming communities and the country’s vibrant agricultural industry. Identifying a need for extra-curricular sporting activities and equipment for school children in the area, the company distributed cricket, volleyball and badminton equipment to selected schools in Monaragala, Sri Lanka.
According to OECD estimates, the world will be home to more than 2.4 billion cars by 2050, around a billion more than exist today. This significant rise in the global vehicle parc will result in much higher demand for the raw materials needed to manufacture tyres. Bridgestone has turned to big data to help optimise rubber yields, and reports developing a system that leads to higher long-term yields.
Campaign group Mighty Earth has published a report alleging that Michelin “covered up industrial-scale deforestation of over 2,500 hectares of rainforest in the run-up to the launch of its flagship ‘eco-friendly’ sustainable natural rubber joint venture project in Sumatra, Indonesia”. The project is currently seeking an additional $120 million in investment from green financiers. Michelin’s joint-venture Indonesia natural rubber project Royal Lestari Utama (RLU) robustly denied the allegations.
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