Raw Materials
Styron has added two new Sprintan-branded rubber grades for use in tyre manufacturing. According to the company, Styron’s Sprintanrubber portfolio offers “high performance solutions” to answer specific tyre industry needs. The range includes rubber grades with enhanced wet grip and wear performance, as well as grades that provide a good balance between traction and rolling resistance.
Cabot Corporation has launched two new carbon black products for tyre tread applications. According to the company, Propel E7 carbon black is engineered to reduce tyre rolling resistance and improve vehicle fuel economy. Propel D11 carbon black is designed to provide a high level of tread durability and is purposed for use in both short-haul truck and off-the-road vehicle tyres. Cabot has been showcasing the new products at Tire Technology Expo 2014 in Cologne, Germany.
Last month Tyres & Accessories published an exclusive preview of the 2014 additions to Continental’s mid-European and Nordic winter tyre stables. The central story was that Conti has launched the new Continental WinterContact TS 850 P. In addition T&A also got the opportunity to experience the performance of the new product’s 4×4 variant, the WinterContact TS 830 P SUV. Key facts includes that the TS 850 P outperforms its predecessor both dry road snow handling and braking. The products also raise the label scores from EC to CC territory. Both tyres will be available from the Autumn.
Now UL/Malaysia’s sustainable raw material for more fuel efficient tyres is in commercial production, Ekoprena is being showcased at this week’s Tire Tech Expo.
Ekoprena representatives report that they will be explaining why this material is “the only way for tyre manufacturers to be at the forefront of green innovation and to claim ownership of the most ecologically sound tyres.”
Gert Wendroth has been appointed president of Nynas AB, effective 1 March 2014. He will replace Staffan Lennström who is retiring. Gert Wendroth has a thorough background in the oil industry. His latest position was as CEO of H&R AG, a German listed company operating two base oil refineries in Germany and a number of blending and filling plants for specialty products around the world. Before that he has held various management positions in the Royal Dutch / Shell Group with a strong focus on B2B sales and marketing.
Tyre manufacturer Sailun has confirmed to Tyrepress an “indirect interest” in Kings Road Tyres. While the direct players in the investment group have yet to be fully confirmed, Sailun’s indirect interest gives some indication of potential tyre industry figures involved in the partnership, confirmed to involve Chinese, European and North American interests.
Most carbon black manufacturing units in the western world, especially in North America and Europe, are being forced to shut down their operations because of the heavy competition they are facing from low cost Asian manufacturers. That’s the view of Tech Archival analysts, who said as much in a report entitled “China Carbon Black: Assessment, Opportunities & Forecast Up-to 2018”, which was published 24 January.
Four French companies are partnering in a project to develop further applications for used tyres. Work is being carried out under the TREC project name and Michelin’s leadership; TREC is backed by a €51 million budget that extends over an eight year period and includes €13.3 million that France’s Agency for the Environment and Energy Management (ADEME) is providing to Michelin and one other partner, SDTech, as part of the French government’s “Investing in the Future” programme. The project covers all stages of research and development processes, from the definition of scientific concepts to pilot testing and validation on an industrial demonstrator. Michelin says at least one of the project’s outcomes is expected to tie in with the BioButterfly project that began last year.
Sustainable materials company Lehigh Technologies Inc. has strengthened its research and development capabilities by investing in new mixing and analytical equipment for its Application and Development Center (ADC) and through the appointment of Chad Jasiunas as technical manager for functional materials. This expansion enables Lehigh to further promote the adoption of its sustainable micronised rubber powder (MRP) material in green tyre applications.
On 27 December, Pirelli reported the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Pirelli Tyre Russia, Russian petroleum company Rosneft and Oil Techno; the MoU covers setting up a joint venture to research and develop synthetic rubber, in particular Styrene-Butadiene Rubber (SBR), in Armenia.
The Tire Retread & Repair Information Bureau (TRIB) and the American Commercial Tire Network (ACTN) have jointly launched a video highlighting the environmental benefits of retreading. The video can be seen on the retreading organisation’s YouTube channel and in the video section of its website. TRIB says it will also display and distribute the video at the trade shows it attends and offer it to news outlets in order to highlight the positive environmental aspects of retreading.
In a message published on the company’s website, Shandong Linglong Tyre Co., Ltd has addressed the use of raw materials sourced in the Democratic Republic of Congo, stating that it “takes very serious” the allegations that metals mined in the DRC may be making their way into the company’s supply chain. Shandong Linglong wrote that it expects its suppliers only source materials from environmentally and socially responsible suppliers, and said it has systems in place to ensure compliance.
New Year, new prices. As of 1 January, German specialty chemicals firm Lanxess will increase prices for the rubber chemicals supplied by its Rubber Chemicals business units. The company says this move is necessary to offset raw material cost increases expected in the first quarter of 2014.
The world’s fourth-largest sugar producer, Tereos, has joined the French BioButterfly project to develop and roll out a process for producing bio-butadiene. The company has signed a partnership agreement with Michelin that focuses on the industrial transformation of agricultural raw materials; this partnership aims to strengthen the upstream phase of the BioButterfly project.
Hungary’s MOL Group and Japan’s JSR Corporation have reached an agreement to establish an S-SBR synthetic rubber plant in Tiszaújváros, Hungary. The plant is expected to begin operations in 2017 and JSR and MOL will hold 51 per cent and 49 per cent shares in the joint-venture respectively. Plant capacity will be 60,000 tonnes per annum, and in the long term the project should create more than 100 new jobs.
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