European Rubber Journal articles from January 1999

European Rubber Journal archives from January 1999

ERJ launches new website.(Brief Article)
January 1, 1999... Subscribers to ERJ can now see the full text of all ERJ stories from the current issue, and back issues on our all-new website at www.crain.co.uk. The paper version of this magazine can take weeks to get to some countries, so we have...

Corrections.(Brief Article)(Correction Notice)
January 1, 1999... Latex web sites In last month's issue we referred to the latex allergy issue on the web. One of the site references was invalid, while another was omitted. These full site references sites are given below: http://www.latexallergyrn.com...

Iddon Bros in receivership.
January 1, 1999... Machinery company has deadline of December 24th Iddon Bros, the UK-based rubber machinery maker has gone into receiver. ship. The receivers were called in on November 20th, and have set a deadline of December 24th to complete the company's...

More rationalisation at Bekaert.(Brief Article)
January 1, 1999... Steel cord and wire maker NV Bekaert SA has decided to be more radical in its structural improvement programme than originally envisaged. The Kortrijk, Belgium-based company expects operating profit and cash flow for 1998 to be at the same...

EWS in Brazilian scrap tyre JV.(Brief Article)
January 1, 1999... UK retread and scrap tyre company to make Colway retreads in S America Environmental Waste Solutions Ltd, which owns the Colway and Motorway brands of retreaded tyres in the UK, has established a joint venture company in Brazil to make...

Briefs.(multiple brief articles)(Brief Article)
January 1, 1999... [] Degussa AG has bought the carbon black business of LG Chemical Ltd in South Korea for DM 250 million ($151 million). LG operates two plants in South Korea--in Bupyung near Seoul and in Yosu--with total capacity of 213 ktpa. []...

Avon profits rise as sales fall.(Brief Article)
January 1, 1999... Profits up 20 percent, thanks to strong performance from auto sector Avon Rubber plc has announced preliminary results for the year to 3 Oct. 1998 showing profits up over 20 percent. Turnover was down 8.1 percent, however, following...

Freudenberg adds in Germany and Europe.(Brief Article)
January 1, 1999... Germany's Freudenberg is to build a seals unit in Hungary and has taken over Integral Hydraulik. Freudenberg Dichtungs- und Schwingungstechnik KG is expanding its business in Hungary and Germany. The manufacturer of seals and vibration...

Phoenix to control Indian belts JV.(Brief Article)
January 1, 1999... German rubber firm takes majority control of a new joint venture in India making steel cord and reinforced conveyor belts. Phoenix AG has taken majority control of a new joint venture with Andrew Yule & Co Ltd of Calcutta. The new company...

Siebe to buy seal giant BTR plc.
January 1, 1999... Siebe plc, a major global player in the automation and controls industry, will offer $6.9 billion in a stock exchange to gain control of British conglomerate and automotive sealing giant BTR plc. The new company, BTR Siebe, expects to...

world news.(multiple brief articles)(Statistical Data Included)
January 1, 1999... These reports have been taken from the various publications and newswires from around the world, Readers are warned that ERJ has not checked these stories, which might contain misleading or based information Chinese bring SBS plant on...

Nitrile rubber in China.(Brief Article)
January 1, 1999... China currently has two nitrile rubber manufacturing units, and is constructing a third, according to a recent report in the China Chemical Reporter. When this third unit, at Lanzhou Chemical Industrial Corp., is complete in 1999, it will...

International Briefs.
January 1, 1999... [] International Rubber Study Group is moving. As from 4 January, 1999, the organisation can be reached at IRSG Heron House 109/115 Wembley Hill Road Wembley Middlesex United Kingdom HA9 8DA Telephone and fax numbers...

Manuli to buy own shares back.(Brief Article)
January 1, 1999... Buy-back deal will help stabilise share price, create option scheme for managers Shareholders of Manuli Rubber Industries SpA, the Milan, Italy-based hose and hose systems manufacturer, have approved a proposed share buyback deal in an...

Clwyd opens clean room for silicones.(Brief Article)
January 1, 1999... Positive airflow room allows custom compounder to offer unrivalled service Clwyd Compounders, a custom compounder specialising in silicone gums, has constructed a clean room for the express purpose of compounding silicone elastomers to the...

Bridgestone ACC may go for trucks.
January 1, 1999... [] Bridgestone ACC India (Indore) Ltd is considering the possibility of entering the truck and bus radial tyre segment in India. "We are thinking about the possibility of entering the truck and bus radial tyre segment. We are carefully...

B F Goodrich returning to rubber.
January 1, 1999... The performance materials manufacturer and supplier of aircraft systems, B F Goodrich, once a force in the tyre and rubber industry, will merge with Coltec Industries by the end of March. The firm will then relocate its headquarters from...

Flexsys to build seventh Crystex unit.
January 1, 1999... Flexsys plans world-scale insoluble sulphur plant in Malaysia Flexsys L.P. is planning to build a world-scale plant to make its Crystex brand of insoluble sulphur in Malaysia. Construction of the factory will begin in March 1999. The...

Change at the top for Flexsys.
January 1, 1999... Enrique Bolanos takes the helm at Flexsys Rubber chemicals producer Flexsys L.P. has appointed a new president. Enrique Bolanos was named president and CEO of the chemical producer. He is a veteran of nearly 20 years in the rubber...

Curing project aims to save energy.
January 1, 1999... Low-temperature curing of elastomers to save energy is the major objective of a current project at the Hertford, UK-based Materials Engineering Research Laboratory. Curing at 70 [degrees] C rather than say 150 [degrees] C gives rubber...

Indian carbon black firm seeks business.
January 1, 1999... A UK depot is part of a strategy to break the triumvirate of international carbon black producers Birla Group, the main investors in Alexandria Carbon Black Co. SAE, are seeking to break the mould of carbon black supply in Europe. ...

Social costs down, Energy costs up.
January 1, 1999... German businesses fear eco-tax but it's early days yet. Following the success of Gerhard Schroder, the new German Chancellor, will businesses get their desired tax reforms, and will they see any reduction in their social payments? ...

UK publishes paper on scrap tyres.
January 1, 1999... The UK Environment Agency has published a report, Tyres in the Environment, which addresses the environmental impact of tyres. The report aims to identify problems and solutions prior to the implementation of the European Directive on landfill....

Pirelli forms tyre JV in Japan.
January 1, 1999... Pirelli Tyres has formed a 51:49 joint venture in Japan with the aim of strengthening Pirelli's operations in Japan's replacement tyre market. The firm has chosen Abe Shokei as its partner, and the two companies will jointly operate the...

Newsbriefs.
January 1, 1999... [] Singapore Commodities Exchange (Sicom) is discussing with the Osaka Mercantile Exchange (OME) the possibility of allowing rubber contracts--specifically in TSR-20 placed in US dollars--to be traded on either exchange. The move is seen...

Bridgestone brings Indian plant on stream.
January 1, 1999... Move will create commercial- and consumer-oriented tyre-marketing divisions Bridgestone Corp. announced that it has officially opened its joint)venture tyre plant in Kheda Growth Center, Madhya Pradesh, near Indore city in central India....

Continental adds in S. Africa, Slovakia.
January 1, 1999... German firm buys 60-percent stake in Gentyre, the South African car and truck tyre maker, and sets up majority-owned trucktyre joint venture with Matador in Puchov London--Continental AG's tyre-making activities have seen a double boost...

Fibres stay core for AlliedSignal, as sector restructures.
January 1, 1999... AlliedSignal is committed to the fibres business and is growing it globally. In 1998 it invested in a Korean marketing venture and in 1999 it will expand its capacity in China This year has been a good one for the AlliedSignal fibres...

KoSa buys Hoechst's polyester business.
January 1, 1999... A consortium formed by Koch Industries Inc. of Wichita, Kansas, and Imasab SA de CV, of Mexico City, has finally completed the purchase of Hoechst's global polyester business. The deal includes most of Hoechst's US, European and Mexican...

Acordis fibres unit created with $3000m turnover.
January 1, 1999... Akzo Nobel NV has created a new fibres unit, Acordis, and is preparing to spin this off as an independent entity. This follows Akzo Nobel's acquisition of Courtaulds plc, including its fibres business, given European Commission approval in July...

Glanzstoff acquires new rayon plant in the Czech Republic.
January 1, 1999... A boom year in tyre production reveals shortages in the rayon market in Europe, but producers have responded. Fibre maker Glanzstoff Austria expanded its rayon business in September with the acquisition of a second rayon plant, in the Czech...

Standard materials and global supply vital in tyre cord.
January 1, 1999... Conti is conquering the art of making new generations of tyres with traditional steel and cord materials. Standardisation is the key word in tyre reinforcement technology, according to Continental AG experts Wolfgang Elsner, manager...

Bridgestone buys all of steel cord unit.
January 1, 1999... Security of tyre materials supply is an important factor in recent moves by Bridgestone. Bridgestone has absorbed its Bridgestone Metalpha steel cord subsidiary in a move which will take effect on 1 Jan, 1999. Bridgestone currently owns 52...

POK: an opportunity in industrial fibres for the 21st century.
January 1, 1999... Polyketone looks promising as a tyre cord fibre. In the search for new materials, fibre makers aim for low-cost, high strength, thermal stability, low creep--and easy, cheap processing. New polyketone fibres currently fulfil all these bar the...

Tyre tests with POK cord already started.
January 1, 1999... Akzo Nobel's fibres unit, soon to be demerged as Acordis, aims to launch the new POK fibre at a tenacity/price ratio equal to or better than polyester, according to Jan van Miltenburg, technical marketing and development manager with the Akzo...

Extreme oilfield conditions push elastomers to the limit.
January 1, 1999... Oilfield uses of elastomers range from complex downhole sealing devices used at very high temperatures and pressures, in contact with oils and corrosive fluids, to much simpler anti-vibration devices. Even straight-forward strips of rubber find...

Surface preparation is vital for a good bond.
January 1, 1999... Bonding rubber to metals or plastics depends on getting a clean surface and applying appropriate treatment. Suppliers have been developing treatments which are less environmentally damaging, by replacing solvents with water, and...

Sophisticated, Advantageous, Prescriptive.
January 1, 1999... SAP has crept up on us, without any kind of warning. Now, when I ask, I find that many of the most global companies in the rubber industry have embarked on long term programmes to implement SAP systems throughout their organisations. SAP....