Raw Materials
On 10 August 2018 China’s Ministry of Commerce announced plans to implement anti-dumping duties ranging from 23.1 per cent to 75.5 per cent on synthetic halogenated butyl rubber from the United States, the European Union and Singapore starting 20 August 2018.
Kordsa has spent roughly US$100 million buying Fabric Development Inc (FDI) and Textile Products Inc. (TPI), which provide advanced composite materials to the commercial aviation industry. With these acquisitions Kordsa aims to follow the same path that led to leadership in tyre reinforcement technologies.
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company plans to test tyre components in space as part of a project in the International Space Station (ISS) U.S. National Laboratory, through an experiment expected to launch later this year. Specifically, it will study the formation of silica particles in the satellite’s microgravity environment. By gathering knowledge from this evaluation, Goodyear engineers and scientists can determine if further investigation of unique forms of precipitated silica should be considered in tyres.
While natural rubber production may have risen 0.2 per cent in May 2018 to 35,789 tonnes compared with 35,726 tonnes in April 2018, year-on-year production decreased 18.6 per cent.
Cambodian rubber exports rose 21 per cent during the first half of 2018, according to the Cambodian Ministry of Agriculture.
The data shows that local producers exported 84,419 tonnes of rubber during the first six months of this year, an increase of 14,376 tonnes compared to a year earlier. Total rubber cultivation was also up, at 436,299 hectares.
Close customer proximity can provide measurable and also intangible benefits. Japanese chemical company Asahi Kasei aims to achieve both with its newly-established research and development presence in Europe. Tyres & Accessories recently visited the facility to find out more.
Birla Carbon has announced a series of expansion plans designed to raise its carbon black capacity in a number of regions.
Production has commenced at Lehigh Technologies’ micronised rubber powder (MRP) plant in Spain. The Murillo el Fruto MRP facility in Navarra was built in partnership with recycling and sustainability specialist Hera Holding and is the first plant for Lehigh Technologies outside the USA.
On 3 July 2018 Birla Carbon, an Aditya Birla Group company, renamed all of its entities worldwide as “Birla Carbon.” As a result former Columbian Carbon and Thai Carbon Black business will now be known as Birla Carbon.
Over the next three years, Arlanxeo will invest “mid double-digit million” euros to modernize its production sites in Triunfo, Brazil and La Wantzenau, France.
The Taraxagum research project into the use of rubber from Russian dandelions in tyres has led to Continental and Professor Dirk Prüfer from the Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology being awarded the University of Münster’s Transfer Prize. Continental shares that the €10,000 prize was awarded for the successful transfer of expertise from biotechnology research to commercial application.
Taiwan-based China Synthetic Rubber is considering investing 10 billion rupees (126 million euros; £110.9 million; US$146.8 million) in a carbon black manufacturing facility in Gujarat, India. According to the Financial Express, the company has identified potential locations in the chemicals and petrochemicals investment region for the proposed project.
The future of the global carbon black market looks good with the market expected to reach an estimated US$20.2 billion by 2023. This means that during the period between 2018 and 2023 the market will grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 5.6 per cent.
A world first has been claimed by Bridgestone Corporation with the development of a polymer that bonds rubber and resins at the molecular level. Bridgestone believes this High Strength Rubber (HSR) polymer will lead to tyres that require fewer raw materials to deliver the performance expected from them.
In mid-June US president Donald Trump announced plans to impose 25 per cent tariffs on US$50 billion worth of Chinese goods. However, the above round of tariffs was actually an additional wave that followed as part of the Trump administration’s ongoing trade war with China. Steel is at the centre of this dispute, with President Trump suggesting that China is dumping steel in America. But now US tyre cord makers could close due to steel tariffs.
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