European Rubber Journal articles from February 2004

European Rubber Journal archives from February 2004

Eaton plans joint venture with Changzhou in China; Global hose maker starts China JV in power-steering, aircon hose.(News)(Senstar Automobile Air Conditioner Co. Ltd)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Byline: Liz White Eaton Corp. and Changzhou Senstar Automobile Air Conditioner Co. Ltd are setting up a joint venture to make automotive air-conditioning hose and tube assemblies and power-steering hose and tube assemblies in Shanghai. The...

Rehau building medical tube plant in Germany; German processor investing $19-million in 10 000-m[superscript two] silicone, plastics tubing facility.(News)
February 1, 2004... Byline: Steve Toloken ERJ Akron Bureau Rehau Inc. plans to boost its presence in the medical tubing market with a new, $19 million plant in Munchberg/Helmbrechts, Germany, dedicated to healthcare manufacturing. Rehau sells silicone...

SF Medical has solutions for device makers; Design is crucial part of SF's capability-especially part reduction.(News)
February 1, 2004... Byline: Liz White US silicone rubber part maker SF Medical has expanded the range it offers to healthcare medical device manufacturers, particularly those with limited assembly capabilities. The company claims that, as a result,...

Bolton Rubber gets royal visit.(Briefs)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... When Wigan, UK-based Bolton Rubber & Silicone exhibited at a construction industry show in Dubai recently, it was visited by VIP guest, the UK's Prince Andrew-shown talking to Peter Kenyon, divisional technical manager of Bolton Rubber &...

Dana to offer multi-layer fuel lines with PBT; PBN use in fuel hose may threaten fluorolastomer use in hose linings.(News)(Nitta Moore Co. Ltd)
February 1, 2004... Byline: Liz White Dana Corp. is to start producing new, multi-layer fuel lines for various uses in Europe, North America, and South America. This development, which uses polybutylene naphthalate (PBN), may have implications for the future...

Chairmen named for auto elastomers conference; Interactive event will aid dialogue between automakers and their suppliers, organisers say.(News)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... The third annual Automotive Elastomers Conference organised by ERJ's sister publication Rubber & Plastics News will take place 15-16 June 2004 at the Hyatt Regency Dearborn in Dearborn, Michigan. The technical conference is aimed at senior...

Quieter craft with Metalastik.(News)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Twin-engined multi-hull craft operated on the Thames in London by City Cruises have a new Metalastik mounting system from Trelleborg Industrial AVS. The system cuts engine movement during manoeuvring and also reduces wear to the propeller...

Saarberg sale making progress.(News)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... RAG Aktiengesellschaft says its intended sale of RAG Saarberg AG, which includes the SaarGummi GmbH rubber operation, is continuing as planned. This sale, and the divestment of the Steag AG power company, announced in March 2003, has...

Skellmax sets up in China, buys in Australia; New Zealand rubber part maker to use Chinese plant as low-cost production site. Acquisition in Australia is also part of Skellmax's growth strategy.(News)(Deks Industries)
February 1, 2004... Byline: Liz White New Zealand-based maker of rubber goods and vacuum-pumps Skellmax Industries Ltd, is leasing industrial space in Jiangsu, China to develop a new offshore manufacturing plant and has acquired Australian rubber part maker...

Half of sales overseas.(News)(Skellmax Industries)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Skellmax Industries was formed in 2002 by combining dairy and industrial rubber part maker Skellerup Industries Ltd with vacuum pump maker Flomax International Ltd. The firm floated on the New Zealand Stock Exchange in June 2002. In the...

Oz-Tek Solutions facility nears completion; US maker of rail ties and sleepers from tyres, recycled plastics, sees production about to start in Australia as licensee sets up shop.(News)(Oz-Tex Solutions Pty Ltd)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Australian railtrack part maker Oz-Tex Solutions Pty Ltd has secured financing and is nearing completion of its first production facility in Temora, New South Wales. The firm expects to begin shipments in the first quarter of 2004. The...

AVK Gummi sets up in China, grows in Denmark; Pump part maker will supply European customers setting up in China, as well as local customers.(News)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Byline: Liz White Rubber part maker AVK Gummi is about to start production at a plant in Kunshan, China, 50 km from Shanghai. The Lasby, Denmark-based firm has found appropriate premises and has been selecting equipment for the factory,...

Toyo lowers earnings forecast.(News)(Toyo Tire & Rubber Co. Ltd)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Toyo Tire & Rubber Co. Ltd has reduced its fiscal 2004 earnings forecast after profits fell markedly in the first half on increased costs for raw materials and other operating functions. The firm's net earnings for the six months ended 30...

ERJ newsbriefs.(Briefs)(European Rubber Journal)(EnTire Solutions llc)
February 1, 2004... Michelin selling fabric unit to KoSa * Charlotte, North Carolina-Michelin North America Inc. has agreed to sell its polyester fabric treatment plant in Winnsboro, South Carolina, to polyester yarn and tyre fabric producer KoSa BV. The deal...

Bridgestone Argentina workers in dispute; Union demonstrates after 73 workers are sacked in Buenos Aires (below).(News)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Byline: Patrick Raleigh Bridgestone Corp. is refusing to reinstate 73 workers at its Buenos Aires tyre plant in defiance of an order by Argentina's Labour Ministry, according to ICEM (the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine...

Conti merges China ops, looks for tyre partner; Chinese brake systems partner SAIC may also aid Conti in local tyre market.(News)(Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation)(Continental AG)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Byline: Liz White Continental AG is merging two Chinese joint ventures in passenger car brake systems. In future, Shanghai Automotive Brake Systems Co. Ltd (SABS) and Shanghai Automotive Brake Actuation Co. Ltd (SABA) will develop and...

ERJ newsbriefs.(Briefs)(European Rubber Journal)(PH Seal Supplies)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Wellington buys PH Seal * Hampton, UK-UK seal maker Wellington Holdings plc has bought South Australian seal distributor PH Seal Supplies, for a maximum of A$470 000 ($362 000). PH Seal Supplies has been the exclusive distributor for...

EC fines 29-year peroxides cartel; [euro]70 million fines for four peroxide suppliers guilty of price fixing.(Suppliers)(European Commission)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Byline: Patrick Raleigh The European Commission has fined four European chemicals firms a total of almost [euro]70 million for running a 29-year-old cartel supplying organic peroxides to the plastics and rubber industries. The...

Study sees 10% annual TPV growth to 2010; NR use to decline in next years, while TPV sales surge, says Margolis.(Suppliers)(Thermoplastic vulcanisate)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Byline: Liz White Total global annual consumption of natural and synthetic elastomers will reach nearly 22 000 kilotonnes by 2010, with thermoplastic elastomer use forming 2260 kt per annum of this figure. Thermoplastic vulcanisate use...

UK mixer maker Carter Bros in administration.(Suppliers)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Financially stricken rubber machinery firm Carter Brothers (Rochdale) Ltd has laid off virtually all of its employees, a spokeswoman for administrators BDO Stoy Hayward said 19 Dec. Just a few staff remain to assist the administrators, who are...

ERJ newsbriefs.(Briefs)(European Rubber Journal)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... DSM to expand Dutch TPE plant * Sittard, The Netherlands-DSM Engineering Plastics, part of DSM NV, plans to increase the capacity of its thermoplastic elastomer facility in Emmen by 25 percent. The Dutch plant produces Arnitel...

Fluoroelastomers moving up-market, says DDE; Good demand evident for new-architecture Viton products.(Suppliers)(DuPont Dow Elastomers)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Byline: Patrick Raleigh Demand for speciality fluoroelastomers is growing at around 7 percent annually compared to just 2 percent for standard fluoroelastomers, according to DuPont Dow Elastomers. Growth is being led by the automotive...

Icon Polymer posts record profits; Ambitious UK group expects to announce next acquisition soon.(News)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Byline: Liz White British rubber part maker Icon Polymer Group achieved a 32-percent rise in pretax profits on sales of more than [pounds sterling]22 million ($39 million) for 2003. The privately owned group did not give its profit figure,...

Process aid advance.(fluoroelastomer process aids patented by DuPont Dow Elastomers)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... DuPont Dow Elastomers has patented fluoroelastomer process aids for polyolefin extrusion compounds and has launched new additives using the technology. US Patent 6642310 B2 covers extrudable compositions containing large-particle-2-10...

Dow Corning boosting Korean capacity; Silicone polymer production to double, sealant capacity to rise 40 percent in S Korea.(Suppliers)
February 1, 2004... Byline: Justin Boyd ERJ Akron Bureau Silicone manufacturer Dow Corning Corp. is expanding its polymer and sealant manufacturing plant in Jincheon, South Korea, in response to growing demand in South-east Asia. The project will add 40...

Farrel Corp. files with SEC to deregister stock.(Securities and Exchange Commission)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Common stock no longer will be traded for Farrel Corp., after the extruder and mixer manufacturer filed a notice to deregister with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. On 29 Dec, the Ansonia-based company asked the SEC to suspend...

PolyOne to open rubber mixing plant in China; Despite being up for sale, elastomer compound unit continues to grow, adding unit in China.(News)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Byline: Liz White PolyOne Corp.'s Elastomers & Performance Additives Group is building a rubber compounding plant near Shanghai, China. Production is due to start in the first quarter of 2004. PolyOne said the new Chinese...

Roxtec launches new knock-out cable seal; Cable connectors have peel-away layers for different size cables.(News)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Byline: Liz White Swedish cable connecting firm Roxtec International has added a novel frame design, the ComPlus (pictured left), to its multi-diameter cable and pipe sealing technology. The Karlskrona, Sweden-based firm claims its...

ERJ people.(People)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Emkes to follow Lampe at BSAH * Mark Emkes is to succeed John Lampe as chairman, president and chief executive officer of Bridgestone Americas Holding Inc. Emkes, pictured below, is currently chairman, ceo and president of...

HSL switches from carpets to mattresses: Part 1 of 2; Carpet-backing, traditionally the main market for carboxylated SBR and high solids SBR latices, has been under pressure recently as consumers reject textile floor coverings in favour of wood and laminate surfaces.(News)(high solids latex)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Byline: David Shaw Two key issues are affecting the synthetic latex sector at present. The first is very positive: it is the sustained growth in sales of moulded, foamed latex products, such as mattresses and pillows. The second issues...

BPRI latex conference.(News)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... BPRI has, over recent years, organised a series of occasional conferences on the latex industry. The third such event took place last June in Gent, Belgium. The event attracted over 60 delegates, who heard 11 presentations related to the...

Rubber in Engineering; The IOM3's Rubber in Engineering Group offers members a lively discussion programme.(News)
February 1, 2004... Byline: David Shaw One of the most active, but least well-publicised groups in the UK rubber sector held one of its regular meetings in December. The Rubber in Engineering Group is part of the IoM3, and meets three or four times a year...

RIEG / RIEC.(News)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... The RIEG is run by the RIEC (Rubber in Engineering Committee), which is a small group of dedicated people, active in the UK and chaired by Prof. Claude Hepburn. it is affiliated to the IoM3. The group holds regular, free seminars in London,...

Kumho adds plants in South Korea, China; $215-million investment by Korean tyre maker in automation, and in doubling Chinese capacity.(News)
February 1, 2004... Byline: Bruce Davis ERJ Akron Bureau Kumho Tire Co. Inc. has started production at a tyre plant in Pyongtaek, South Korea, using proprietary automated technology, and begun work on a second factory in Nanjing, China, that will double the...

CCG set for Paris in March; Exhibition and conference scheduled for Paris. The event opens on Tuesday, 9 March, closing on 11 March.(News)(Caoutchouc Caucho Gomma)
February 1, 2004... CCG -Caoutchouc Caucho Gomma - takes place in the Villepinte exhibition complex in northern Paris, one RER stop down from Charles de Gaulle airport. The three-day event opens on 9 March 2004, and coincides with the Interchimie exhibition which...

SAGE.(News)
February 1, 2004... Tuesday 9 March 13.30: Welcome 13.45: Brief opening speeches by the presidents of AFICEP, GFP and SFIP (F) Session 1: Introduction by Guy Bertrand, AFICEP (F) 14.00: Professor MacLeod - E.P.H.E. (Ecole Pratique des Hautes...

Mediterranean forum.(News)
February 1, 2004... Thursday 11 March 8.30:Welcome (F) 8.45:Short opening speech by Gerard FLAURAUD, president, AFICEP 9.00:Mounji Sefrioui- Ben M'sik Caoutchouc Rubber processing industry in Morocco and in the Maghreb countries (F) ...

Provisional list of exhibitors.(News)(rubber industry)(Brief Article)(Directory)
February 1, 2004... Aficep AIS Alpha Technologies Arnaud Promecome Bergeron Equipment Colmec Gibitre Terenzio Berstorff GmbH Blet Bobet Caoutchoucs et Plastiques Charvolin CTTM Durferrit ...

Exhibitors: Part 1 of 3.(News)
February 1, 2004... Aficep Aficep is the French association for professional engineers. The organisation is co-sponsor of the CCG event, and will have available a range of literature and details of membership programmes and benefits to members. AIS ...

2003 car registrations down 1.3 percent on '02.(News)
February 1, 2004... Information We present here a series of charts and tables intended to give a snapshot of rubber industry performance. The price of rubber on the Singapore commodity exchange is possibly the most important price in the industry, while...

Diary.(conferences and exhibitions)(Calendar)
February 1, 2004... January * Flame Retardants 2004. 27-28 January: London. Contact: Conference Secretariat, Interscience Communications, Tel:+44 (0)20 8692 5050; Email intercomm@dial.pipex.com February * Non-automotive consumer and industrial...

Stock picks for 2004.(rubber industry)(Column)
February 1, 2004... Byline: David Shaw For the last year or so, I have been monitoring share prices of rubber-related companies. I first started on 1 November, 2002. I set up a portfolio with a nominal 100 shares in each of ten leading companies, all of whom...

Kenda, Cooper to build tyre plant in China; US, Taiwanese firms set up 50:50 JV in Jiangsu.(News)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Byline: Bruce Davis ERJ Akron Bureau Cooper Tyre & Rubber Co. is joining with Taiwan's Kenda Rubber Industrial Co. Ltd to build a radial passenger and light truck tyre factory in China. The joint venture plant in China's Jiangsu...

Marangoni building tread plant.(Madison, Wisconsin)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Marangoni Tread North America Inc. has started building its first US tread rubber factory. The site in Madison will produce Ringtread spliceless precure tyre tread used in commercial truck tyre retreading. The plant will cost $10 million and...

Cash strapped Condomi aims to refinance; [euro]23 million loss for 2003/2004, as German condom maker tries to rescue business.(News)
February 1, 2004... Byline: Liz White Financial difficulties at Condomi AG have forced the German condom maker to negotiate refinancing to allow it to continue as a viable operation. Condomi announced at the end of December 2003 that its banks had agreed to...

Crompton reveals third 'cartel'-in nitrile rubber; No charges yet as investigation of nitrile rubber is added to those in EPDM and rubber chemicals.(News)
February 1, 2004... Byline: Patrick Raleigh Crompton Corp. is assisting competition authorities in Europe and North America with a year-old investigation into price fixing among nitrile rubber suppliers. Authorities in the US, Canada and the European Union...

Artel gains [pounds sterling]7-m, 10-year order for silicone hose.(News)
February 1, 2004... Byline: Liz White Small UK-based silicone rubber hose maker Artel Rubber Co. has gained a [pounds sterling]7-million ($12.7-million) order, spread over ten years, from Denmark. For the [pounds sterling]2.4-million turnover 50-employee...

HSL switches from carpets to mattresses: Part 2 of 2; Carpet-backing, traditionally the main market for carboxylated SBR and high solids SBR latices, has been under pressure recently as consumers reject textile floor coverings in favour of wood and laminate surfaces.(News)
February 1, 2004... Byline: David Shaw Carpet market meets hard times As noted earlier, the European carpet sector is in a time of change. Consumers have followed the fashion trend and replaced carpeted floors with hard surfaces made from wood or...

Exhibitors: Part 2 of 3.(News)
February 1, 2004... Espana The Spanish stand brings together some of the leading suppliers into the rubber industry from Spain. As co-hosts of previous Mediterranean rubber conferences, the Consorcio Nacional de Industriales del Caucho (CNIC) acts as a...

Exhibitors: Part 3 of 3.(News)
February 1, 2004... Maris Maris SpA, based in Turin, Italy makes co-rotating twin-screw extruders. The company makes different types of extruder, with screws rotating at different speeds. Each screw is made up of a series of separate elements designed for...