Bekaert closing Figline-Valdarno factory
Bekaert Group is closing its rubber reinforcement entity in Figline e Incisa Valdarno, Italy and cease all activities there.
Raw Materials
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Kordsa presents lightweighting concepts at Movin’On
At the Movin’On conference on future mobility held last month in Montreal, tyre cord and composite technology company Kordsa made a presentation that emphasized the need to lighten vehicles for efficient and sustainable mobility.
ExxonMobil opens Singapore butyl and resins plants
On 21 June 2018 ExxonMobil announced it had started production of hydrogenated hydrocarbon resin and halobutyl rubber at its integrated manufacturing complex in Singapore, the company’s largest integrated refining and petrochemical complex in the world. ExxonMobil’s new Escorez hydrogenated hydrocarbon resins plant will be the world’s largest with a capacity of 90,000 tonnes per year, and will meet long-term demand growth for hot-melt adhesives used in packaging or baby diapers. The new 140,000-tonnes-per-year butyl plant will produce premium halobutyl rubber used by manufacturers for tyres to better maintain inflation to improve fuel economy.
DuPont polymers to increase prices
Effective July 1, or as soon as contracts allow, DuPont Transportation & Advanced Polymers has announced that it will increase prices globally for the following products: DuPont Zytel and Zytel HTN.
Fischer-owner sells majority stake in tyre manufacturing machinery maker
Funds managed by Equistone Partners Europe have agreed to sell a majority stake in Karl Eugen Fischer, the world’s leading manufacturer of cord-cutting machines for the tyre industry. Equistone acquired Karl Eugen Fischer in August 2013 and is now selling its stake to DBAG Fund VII, managed by Deutsche Beteiligungs AG. Management will retain a shareholding in the company. The financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed.
Michelin aiming for 80% sustainable materials in tyres by 2048
The Movin’On 2018 sustainable mobility summit took place at the end of May and the start of this month, and during the event organiser Michelin announced what it calls an “ambitious plan” – to ensure all of its tyres will be manufactured using 80 per cent sustainable materials within 30 years, and that 100 per cent of all tyres will be recycled.
Lehigh Technologies: European MRP production beginning this summer
According to Michelin, owner of Lehigh Technologies since October 2017, the Micronised Rubber Powders (MRP) production facility being set up by Lehigh Spain will begin operations in summer 2018. The plant, located in Murrillo del Fruto, Spain, is the product of a joint venture project between Lehigh Technologies and Hera Holding.
Arlanxeo announces price increase for Buna, X_Butyl
Prices for Arlanxeo Buna and X_Butyl products have risen from 1 May 2018, an increase that Arlanxeo says have been “driven by the overall market situation.” Customers have been individually contacted regarding the price increases.
Cabot increases rubber carbon black prices in North America
Effective 1 June 2018, Cabot Corporation is increasing prices for carbon black products sold by its Reinforcement Materials segment in North America. All Vulcan, Sterling, Regal, Spheron and Propel carbon black products will increase by $0.045/lb except for Vulcan XC-72, Vulcan XC-72 R and Sterling C carbon blacks. In addition, prices will increase by 4 per cent for Black Pearls, Monarch, CRX, Vulcan XC-72, Vulcan XC-72 R and Sterling C carbon black products.
Cabot CFO retires
Cabot Corporation has announced that Eduardo Cordeiro, executive vice president, chief financial officer (CFO) and president of the Americas Region, will retire from Cabot at the end of 2018. He steps down from these roles effective 15 May 2018 at which time Erica McLaughlin, the company’s vice president of business operations for Cabot’s Reinforcement Materials segment and general manager of the tyre business, will become senior vice president and CFO. Cordeiro will remain with Cabot in an advisory capacity through the end of the year to assist in a smooth transition.
Cabot Corporation expands specialty compounds business
Cabot Corporation has completed two expansion projects extending its global footprint in black masterbatch and compounds and increase manufacturing capacity. The expansion has been achieved via an acquisition and the addition of capacity in Belgium.
BKT partnering with Kultevat on dandelion rubber development
Instead of just finding dandelions growing in fields, we may soon also find them in the tyres of tractors and other agricultural vehicles that traverse these fields. Balkrishna Industries Limited (BKT) sees a future for these plants as a material within the tyres it makes; it recently entered into a joint research agreement with US biotechnology company Kultevat, Inc. to develop new compounding methods based on TKS/Russian dandelion rubber, with the aim of integrating these into its tyre manufacturing process.
European tyre maker trialling Versarien’s Nanene
A small beginning, but a beginning nonetheless: Advanced engineering materials group Versarien plc announced today that a “leading tyre producer, based in Europe” has placed a purchase order for its proprietary Nanene few layer graphene nano-platelets. This order was cultivated via Versarien’s distributor OQEMA plc, formerly Lansdowne Chemicals Limited.
Solvay cutting 600 jobs
Solvay will cut 600 jobs as part of a broad restructuring program aimed at simplifying the organization. On 29 March the firm announced that job cuts related to the restructuring include 160 redundancies in France, 90 in Portugal and 80 in Brazil.
Toyo to realise truck and bus tyre fuel efficiency gains through Nano Balance Tech
Toyo Tire & Rubber Co has achieved rapid fuel efficiency savings in its truck and bus tyre line-up through its Nano Balance Technology. The manufacturer has been advancing its indigenous rubber material development technology since 2011; the latest step forward is a new process development technology Toyo says will contribute to significant reduction in fuel consumption from “nano processing.”
