Raw Materials
Solvay has commenced production of Highly Dispersible Silica (HDS) at its new state-of-the-art plant in Gunsan, South Korea. The plant has an annual capacity of more than 80,000 tons and is producing Solvay’s most advanced grades of HDS – many of which are used in fuel efficient tyre compounds.
DRT has agreed to buy Pinova Inc., the specialty resins and chemical intermediates manufacturer. DRT will acquire Pinova Inc. and its diversified portfolio of industry applications as well as its Brunswick manufacturing site from Symrise for US$150 million. Pinova Inc.’s 2016 sales are expected to total about $111 million.
As part of the transaction, Symrise and DRT have also agreed on a co-operation for individual product development projects as well as for the supply of strategic raw materials.
Saudi Arabia-based diversified chemicals company SABIC is launching a new range of synthetic rubbers, which are being manufactured for the first time in Saudi. The products made their debut at the K-Show Europe Exhibition in Dusseldorf, Germany, 19-26 October 2016.
Trinseo announced that it will expand capacity for Solution-Styrene Butadiene Rubber (S-SBR) on 24 October 2016. According to the company, this increased investment is a direct response to rising customer demand for this technology.
Initial data suggests graphene tyres offer 1.5x better rolling resistance and better mileage, braking 2016 has been the year that graphene has been most clearly and most publically associated with tyres. And with initial reports suggesting this material could have a dramatic effect on rolling resistance (and therefore emissions) as well as treadwear, it seems […]
Sentury and Huagao launched their first electrostatic conducting graphene tyre at the 2016 China International Graphene Innovation Conference (GrapChina) on 22 September. The launch comes less than a month after Sentury and Huagao officially announced their cooperation on the product.
Shangdong Hengyu Technology has become the latest tyre manufacturer to announce that it is making tyres based on the Nobel Prize-winning material graphene. Other firms using graphene in tyres include bicycle tyremaker Vitorria and fast-growing Chinese manufacturer Sentury Tire.
According to the company supplying Hengyu with Graphene (The Sixth Element Materials Technology), Shangdong Hengyu has developed “tyre formulations” that the companies say demonstrates the positive impact of graphene on the performance of tyres.
On 29 September Lanxess announced plans to acquire US-based Chemtura Corporation, one of the major global providers of flame retardant and lubricant additives.
Under the terms of the two parties’ agreement, Chemtura shareholders will receive US$33.50 per share in cash for each outstanding share of common stock held, which represents an 18.9 per cent premium to the stock’s closing share price of $28.18 on 23 September 2016. The 2.4 billion euro transaction will be financed by Lanxess mainly through senior and hybrid bonds and is expected to close around mid-2017.
Scientists working on Cooper Tire & Rubber’s guayule rubber project have reportedly reached a key milestone on the path to producing, by mid-2017, a concept tyre in which guayule-based polymers replace all natural and synthetic rubbers. Their testing has shown guayule to be an effective substitute material in certain components, with tyres produced using these components offering comparative performance to their conventional counterparts.
Solvay, Sylvaine Neveu, a researcher at the firm’s Research and Innovation entity within the group’s Global Business Unit Silica, has won the Irène Joliot-Curie 2016 award for work on energy saving tyre technology. She was honoured in the category “Woman, Research and Enterprise”, granted by the French Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Research.
The International Rubber Study Group, IRSG has named Salvatore Pinizzotto as its new secretary general. Pinizzotto will officially take up the post on 1 January 2017 at the end of the tenure of Dr Stephen Evans.
The Automechanika Innovation Awards 2016 have been announced – and tyre manufacturer Continental and tyre equipment manufacturer Corghi are amongst the winners. On 23 August 2016, the independent jury of nine experts reached agreement on eight award winners whose innovative solutions and future-oriented products will be presented for the first time in an interactive special show in the ‘Festhalle’ during the coming Automechanika Frankfurt on 13 September 2016.
On 3 August 2016 Sentury Tire and Huagao Graphene Technology Corporation hosted a ceremony marking the two firm’s cooperation on their first (and possibly the first) graphene high performance car tyre.
Qingdao information technology department vice director Wang Jian, deputy mayor of Qingdao Sun Mingming, China grapheme industry alliance secretary Li Yichun, chairman of Sentury Qin Long and Sentury president Lanny represented Sentury by attending the signing ceremony.
On 18 August Orion Engineered Carbons S.A.’s French subsidiary, Orion Engineered Carbons SAS, reached an agreement with the Works Council and labour union at its Ambes, France facility on a comprehensive social plan. Following this agreement, the French subsidiary will “proceed to implement the restructuring and down staffing of that facility with cessation of production at the site expected by the end of 2016”.
Exol Lubricants has recently added a new barge, “Exol Pride,” to the North East Waterways, which will transport raw materials from Hull to its bulk blending plant in Rotherham. Exol has been a long term user of the waterways, leading the oil and lubricants market by using an environmentally friendly option while transporting large loads. The company has been commended for its reduction in carbon footprint and has even featured in ITV’s Barging about Britain, hosted by John Sergeant.
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