synthetic rubber Archives - Page 11 of 11

Sumitomo to Raise Domestic Tyre Prices

Sumitomo Rubber has announced that it will raise domestic market tyre prices by between 4 and 4.5 per cent in September. The company’s move is said to be in response to the higher cost of synthetic rubber and other input materials.

Analysts have suggested that this is a positive step, which could result in a 2 billion yen boost in full year operation profit. As a result the company’s share went up 1.4 per cent to 1,130 yen. “We maintain our full-year earnings forecasts, as our figures are already above the company’s, and recent rises in materials costs could be negative,” the Deutsche Bank Analysts added.

21st July 2005/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear Sells Resins Business

Product News

(Akron/Tire Review) Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co has agreed to sell its Wingtack adhesives resins business to Sartomer Company Inc, a unit of the French energy firm Total SA, for a reported $65 million. The sale includes a production facility in Beaumont, Texas, adjacent to Goodyear’s synthetic rubber plant there.

Goodyear said it will continue to supply raw materials to the adhesives resins plant. The adhesives resins business, with 115 employees, produces Wingtack brand hydrocarbon resins, which are used in pressure-sensitive and hot melt applications.

27th June 2005/by Tyrepress Editors

Natural Rubber Prices Continue Upward Climb

Product News

(Akron/Tire Review) By 7 June, natural rubber prices had risen to a 12-month high of $3.12 a pound on the Tokyo Commodities Exchange. Tyre output in China rose 27 per cent, to 239 million units last year, and the country’s tyre exports nearly doubled, to 34.8 million units.

At the same time global manufacturers continue to purchase more natural rubber as its synthetic counterpart becomes more costly, according to experts monitoring the data. Data reported by Bloomberg, for example, indicates that US Gulf spot prices for butadiene, the petrochemical used to make synthetic rubber, have risen 93 per cent, to 57 cents a pound over the past year.

23rd June 2005/by Tyrepress Editors

Indian Rubber Industry Consumes 1 Million Tonnes

Product News

(Rubber Asia/India) The Indian rubber industry used up a total of over a million tonnes of various types of rubber during 2003/04, according to data compiled by the Automotive tyre Manufacturers Association (ATMA).

Of this, the tyre industry alone (including cycle tyres & tubes and camelback) consumed 478,734 tonnes of natural rubber — 66.5 per cent of all natural rubber (NR) consumed by the Indian industry as a whole. The tyre segment was also by far the largest consumer of synthetic rubber (140,960 tonnes out of a total of 210,190 tonnes) and reclaimed rubber (38,532 tonnes out of 70,460).

More importantly, the Indian auto tyre segment still has 73.34 per cent of its rubber consumption in the form of natural rubber with synthetic rubber (SR) accounting for 23.73 per cent and reclaimed rubber 2.93 per cent. This NR:SR ratio is almost the reverse of the pattern elsewhere in the tyre-making world.

7th April 2005/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone: Cautious as Usual

Product News

Analysts were not surprised by Bridgestone’s recently posted operating profit increase of 7.9 per cent, according to a Deutsche Bank report. At the same time as posting its 2004 full year results, the company predicted a downturn in operating profit of 14 per cent in 2005. The analysts’ verdict? Cautious as usual.

“The numbers did not surprise, as usual beating the company targets. They were driven by higher volumes in Europe and the US and an improved product mix,” the report says. The Deutsche Bank representatives continued by commenting that Bridgestone’s projected full year profit dip has accounted for higher raw material costs, but not the effect of passing these on to costumers. According to the analysts Bridgestone’s conservative estimates reflect a desire to reinforce its negotiating position with synthetic rubber and chemical material suppliers; underscore how tough the earnings environment is in order to make a stronger case for its own price increases; and gives extra leverage for unresolved labour contract issues with North American unions.

22nd February 2005/by Tyrepress Editors

Rubber Production and Demand Increases

Product News

The global demand for natural and synthetic rubber will rise in the next few years, according to figures from the International Rubber Study Group (IRSG) published in the recent issue of Rubber Asia. While demand in the European Union is expected to increase by 1.6 per cent throughout this year, demand in the Asian market will grow by 5.2 per cent. Asian companies already process half of the total world production of natural and synthetic rubber, almost 20 million tonnes. The IRSG expects world demands to develop by a further 5 per cent in 2005. At the same time production is expected to increase at the same rate, suggesting that there will not be any bottlenecks.

3rd August 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear Sues Over Price Fixing

Product News

Goodyear has filed lawsuits against 12 chemical companies, accusing them of price fixing and overcharging for the synthetic rubber EPDM (Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer) during the period from 1994 to 2002. EPDM is used in tyres and hoses as a strengthening agent and to provide resistance to ozone and ageing. The 12 companies are based in the USA, Germany, Italy and The Netherlands and one – Crompton Corp. of Connecticut – is reported to have already pleaded guilty to conspiring to fix prices of rubber chemicals and is to pay a $50 million fine.

11th May 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

IRSG Predicts Growth In Rubber Consumption

Product News

Delegates at the 40th assembly of the International Rubber Study Group were told that rubber consumption in 2003 grew by 4.8 per cent to 19.01 million tonnes. Natural rubber consumption was up 5.6 per cent and that of synthetic rubber rose 4.3 per cent. This year, total consumption is expected to rise by 3.8 per cent and by 4.9 per cent in 2005. The main driver of this rise will be the Asia-Pacific area, with predicted growth in consumption of 5.6 per cent this year and 6.7 per cent next year.

7th May 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear develops new synthetic rubbers

Product News

Goodyear says it has developed new synthetic rubber products, which could cut its current spend on natural rubber by 15 per cent over the next three years. The company has been working on the project for some time, but extra impetus was provided by the recent steep rises in natural rubber prices. The new products are already being utilised in production.

31st March 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Firestone employees threaten strike

Product News

Wages, pension fund contributions and affordable health care coverage headed the list of issues brought to the bargaining table by union officials representating the 157 employees at Orange County’s Firestone Polymers synthetic rubber plant. PACE Local 4-836 union representatives and plant officials entered into contract negotiations, but not before employees agreed they would go on strike if a new contract were not forged by the March 7 deadline, the date the employee’s existing three-year contract expires. Dan MacDonald, a spokesperson with Firestone’s parent company, Nashville-based Bridgestone America, said he believed contract talks would be successful, but criticised union representatives for taking negotiations away from the bargaining table. “I want to emphasize that we believe that is very important to keep the negotiations at the bargaining table and to not try to work out a deal through the media,” MacDonald said, adding that it is important to forge a contract that allows the company to be successful.”

13th February 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Raw material costs push up Indian tyre prices

Product News

Rising raw material costs have led to Indian tyre manufacturers raising prices by up to two per cent this month, according to the country’s Automotive Tyre Manufacturers’ Association. Natural rubber prices rose by 40 per cent over the past year, and synthetic rubber prices by 50 per cent. Unexpectedly high demand from the tyre industry – which uses more than half of the rubber produced in India – and heavy rainfall affecting rubber tapping have contributed to the increase in costs, part of which has been passed on in higher tyre prices.

28th October 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Weaker 2003 For Bridgestone Australia

Product News

Raw material price uncertainty is likely to pull down Bridgestone Australia’s profits for 2003. This follows significant rises in the prices of natural and synthetic rubber. The company reported a profit of 12.6 million Australian Dollars for 2002, a 41.2 per cent rise on the previous year. Total revenue rose from 513 million dollars to 517 million dollars. The improvements in profitability came from non-tyre related business and reduced borrowing costs. A company spokesman said that the tyre business in Australia remained marginal and directors are concerned that significant improvements in productivity and reduction in manufacturing costs will be required to sustain this business into the future.

3rd February 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

New Goodyear Polymer Plant Begins Production

Product News

Production has started at a new Goodyear Chemical polymer plant in Beaumont, Texas. The plant cost US$ 144 million and has an annual capacity of 240 million pounds of synthetic rubber and speciality polymers. It is Goodyear Chemical’s fourth facility in Texas.

7th December 2000/by Tyrepress Editors

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