European Rubber Journal articles from June 2003

European Rubber Journal archives from June 2003

Bayer 'will not tolerate' loss-making rubber unit: New Bayer Polymers structure puts pressure on rubber unit to raise profitability. (Supplier news).
June 1, 2003... Bayer AG is prepared to do whatever it takes to stop the losses from its rubber business. According to Jurgen Dahmer, head of Bayer Polymers' European operations, "Our minds are made up." His boss, Hagen Noerenberg, chief executive of Bayer...

Plant to close as Cabot restructures in Europe: Overcapacity and cut price imports prompt Cabot to restructure in Europe. (Supplier news).
June 1, 2003... Cabot Corp.'s carbon black plant in Zierbena, Spain, is to close as part of a major restructuring of the firm's European operations. The cutback plan is due to be completed within the next 24 months, though the 60-kilo-tonne-per-annum Spanish...

Trelleborg expands in South Korea, China. (Rubber news).
June 1, 2003... Swedish rubber processor Trelleborg AB is extending its position in Asia. It plans to buy 51 percent of automotive parts firm Kunhwa Co. Ltd in South Korea and is also building a new plant for antivibration parts in Wuxi in China. Kunhwa's...

Cooper looks east for NVH parts production. (Rubber news).(Cooper-Standard Automotive will move jobs to China)
June 1, 2003... Like its sister tyre division, Cooper-Standard Automotive is looking eastward. It plans to expand its North American antivibration business to China to take advantage of low labour costs and supply the growing market. Cooper-Standard, a...

Hexagon forms polymer unit, aims for growth: Swedish group acknowledges importance of its growing rubber business, separating it out into new division. (Rubber news).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Engineering conglomerate Hexagon AB is expecting high growth in its polymer processing unit, Gislaved Rubber Group. As a result, the Swedish group has separated the Gislaved unit into a new division, Hexagon Polymers. The reason for this...

Dana in deal with Chinese seal firm.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... [] Toledo, Ohio -- Dana Corp.'s Victor Reinz division has entered a five-year agreement with Dong Feng Gaskets Co. Ltd, a Chinese automotive gasket producer, to gain further entry into the engine sealing market in the country with its new...

Quieting engine sounds revs up Woco's NA sales. (Rubber news).(Woco Industrietechnik GmbH's North American sales)
June 1, 2003... Soaring sales of Woco Industrietechnik GmbH's acoustic products for engine compartments are driving up its North American revenues. The firm's motor acoustic business develops in a "fast and furious" fashion, because some...

Parent posts higher revenues. (Rubber news).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Bad Soden Salmunster, Germany -- Woco Group reported 53 percent higher sales in 2002 as the firm concentrated on integrating previously acquired companies. Sales for last year hit $576 million, with antivibration components/systems...

Magnifoam finalises Leewood buy.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... [] Mississauga, Ontario -- Magnifoam Technology International Inc. expects to complete its acquisition of the remaining 29-percent interest in Leewood Elastomer GmbH, for nearly $1.5 million, by the end of May. Leewood is a German silicone...

SARS forces IISRP to postpone meeting.(International Institute of Synthetic Rubber Producers )(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... [] Houston, Texas -- The International Institute of Synthetic Rubber Producers has postponed its 19-22 May annual meeting in Beijing, China, until September because of the SARS virus. "Recent relevant information about the outbreak of...

Icon eyes US market, plans further growth. (Rubber news).(Icon Polymer Group)
June 1, 2003... Rubber processor Icon Polymer Group of the UK is eyeing North America for growth and possible acquisitions, according to managing director Richard Gogerty. Icon Polymer was established in 1999 by Gogerty as an umbrella for small to...

United Polymers, ARP to collaborate in US, Europe: automotive part suppliers to make, market each other's rubber parts, in cross-Atlantic deal. (Rubber news).
June 1, 2003... United Polymers Ltd of Maerdy, Wales and US automotive seal maker American Rubber Products Corp. have agreed to market and manufacture each others' products in North America and Europe. The pact, under discussion since last year, replaces a...

Parker Hannifin expands in Czech Republic: Parker extends Czech seals/packing unit to make antivibration parts. (Rubber news).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Seal maker Parker Hannifin is expanding production in the Czech Republic. The company is building an extension to its factory in Sadska, near Prague, to make rubber-to-metal bonded components such as vibration absorbers. Jan Marek, the...

Avon moves into profit, helped by respirators: respirator sales contribute to Avon Rubber's move back into the black, following a loss-making 2002. (Rubber news).
June 1, 2003... Automotive and technical rubber parts supplier Avon Rubber plc made a 4.3 million [pounds sterling] ($7 million) profit for the first half of 2003 (ended 31 March) compared to a loss of 5.1 million [pounds sterling] for the same period last...

Michelin nets Polish peace dividend: successful share purchase signals renewed development for Stomil Olsztyn. (Tyre news).
June 1, 2003... Groupe Michelin aims to normalise business operations at Stomil Olsztyn now that it has gained almost total control of the Polish tyre-making concern, according to Patrick Oliva, new projects director at Michelin. The French group gained...

New 'sun' tyre system offered.(Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd.)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd has unveiled its new tyre production system, which is already in operation at its Shirakawa plant in Fukushima, Japan. Called 'Taiyo'--Japanese for sun--the system "integrates [tyre] production processes from...

Yokohama to boost capacity in Philippines.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... [] Tokyo -- Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd will invest $16.7 million to expand capacity at its Pampanga, Philippines, plant by 25 percent and upgrade it to produce passenger tyres in rim diameters of larger than 16 inches. The plant will step up...

Siberian tyre maker to invest $1.3 million.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... [] Prague -- Matador Omskshina plans to make 1.5 million tyres this year, and invest more than 40 million roubles ($1.3 million), according to Stefan Prekop, general director of parent company Matador. The Slovak tyre maker's joint venture...

Goodyear Dunlop cutting up to 328 jobs in the UK: another round of staff cuts being made at two Goodyear Dunlop sites in the UK. (Tyre news).
June 1, 2003... Goodyear Dunlop Tyres UK Ltd is to axe up to 328 jobs as the firm embarks on a new round of restructuring of its UK tyre production and sales activities. Up to 122 jobs are to go in Wolverhampton, due to cutbacks in farm tyre production...

Pension fund to buy 50% of Kumho Tire.(South Korea's Military Mutual Aid Association )(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... [] Fontana, California -- Kumho Industrial Co. Ltd plans to sell its Kumho Tire unit to South Korea's Military Mutual Aid Association for $1200 million, according to Fontana-based Kumho Tire USA. The two parties signed a tentative...

Federal's sales increase.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... [] Taipei, Taiwan -- Federal Corp. reported a 16.3-percent increase in sales in the quarter ended 31 March, to $26.4 million, based on strong demand both domestically and from export markets. The strong quarterly performance included a single...

Nokian cuts Russian JV aims.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... [] Nokia, Finland -- Nokian Tyres plc has cutback its sales targets for Amtel-Nokian Tyres llc (ANT), its new Russian joint venture with Amtel Holdings. ANT will start with a target of selling 600 000 Nordman-branded tyres in 2003 and 2...

Goodyear aims for global sourcing, streamlining.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... [] New York -- Goodyear is to lean more heavily on its global resources to put its house in order. It also aims to reduce annual operating costs by up to $1500 million, increase revenue per tyre by 4 percent, sell assets and streamline its...

Michelin to add in France.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... [] Paris -- Groupe Michelin expects to add 1100 new employees to its workforce in France this year. The tyre group currently employs about 32 000 in France and 127 000 worldwide. Of the new vacancies, 600 will be for professional staff, and...

Tyre prices rising.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... [] Tokyo -- Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd is to raise tyre prices in Asia, Middle East, Latin America and Africa by 3 to 5 percent. The increases, scheduled for the second half of 2003, are a result of rising prices of NR, SR, carbon black and...

Mitsui starts Singapore elastomers plant: world-scale elastomers plant to meet growing demand for impact modifiers, says Mitsui. (Supplier news).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Mitsui Chemicals Inc. has started commercial operation of its new 100-kilotonne-per-annum elastomers plant on Jurong Island, Singapore. The plant, operated by subsidiary Mitsui Elastomers Singapore Pte. Ltd, produces Mitsui's Tafmer...

JSR expanding Asian masterbatch operations: JSR expansions respond to growing demands of Japanese transplants in Asia. (Supplier news).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... JSR Elastomix Co. Ltd, based in Yokkaichi, Mie, Japan, is to expand CMB (Carbon Master Batch) production in China and Thailand, parent group JSR Corp has announced. The addition of a new 110 litre intensive mixer line will double the...

China imposes SBR duty.(styrene-butadiene rubber anti-dumping measures)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... [] Tokyo -- The People's Republic of China has imposed provisional anti-dumping measures on SBR (styrene-butadiene rubber) imported from Japan, South Korea, and Russia. But the decision of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce will have only...

Hyosung cord plant for China.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... [] Seoul -- Hyosung Corp. is to establish a 22-kilotonnes-per-annum HMLS polyester tyre cord plant in Jiaxing, in the Shanghai region of the People's Republic of China. The fibre plant, which will employ Hyosung production technology, is...

DSM Venturing invests in InMat.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... [] Heerlen, The Netherlands -- DSM Venturing has invested $0.5 million in InMat Inc., a US firm specialising in nanocomposite elastomer coatings. "The investment is at the heart of two of our focus areas: functional coatings and...

Bekaert to build third tyre cord plant in China: 'aggressive' plan to expand two JV plants and construct a third will raise Bekaert's capacity for steel tyre cord in China from 45 to 90 ktpa. (Supplier news).
June 1, 2003... Belgian steel producer NV Bekaert SA aims to double its capacity for making steel cord in China by the end of 2005. The group said its strategy is to take 50 percent of the Chinese market for tyre cord, which it said is growing at 25 percent...

Machinery maker gets Russian tyre business. (Supplier news).(Konstrukta-Industry)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Slovak rubber machinery maker Konstrukta-Industry has gained orders from Russia worth SK212 million ($6 million) this year. And company officials are also negotiating for a contract with tyre maker Belshina in Belarus. Business contacts...

Indian firm to make Kobe tyre curing presses.(Larsen & Toubro, Kobe Steel Ltd.)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Mumbai -- Larsen & Toubro (L&T) of Mumbai is to manufacture hydraulic tyre curing presses for Japanese engineering group Kobe Steel Ltd. L&T said it will manufacture the Cure-S1 series presses at a facility operated by its Heavy Engineering...

Rubber successful at Bayer--but margins poor: new head of Bayer's tyre activities says rubber plants are full, but margins remain poor. (Rubber news).(Jorg Schneider, Bayer Polymers AG)
June 1, 2003... Bayer's rubber plants are full, and likely to remain so into the summer, but there are no shortages forecast, according to Jorg Schneider, European director of the the new tyre business group at Bayer Polymers AG. Tyres is one of 14 market...

Bayer's new structure may lead to divestments. (Rubber news).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Bayer Group's new structure--a holding company with four quasi-independent subsidiaries and three service companies--will throw a harsh spotlight on all of its businesses. This, in turn, will force the firm to take strong action to deal with...

Bayer's new structure. (Rubber news).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... The company is now split along regional lines, with divisions based on EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa), The Americas and Asia-Pacific regions. Separately, the company's marketing organisation is divided into three broad categories,...

Antimicrobial rubber launched by Milliken. (antimicrobial rubber).(Milliken Chemical)
June 1, 2003... Milliken Chemical's Speciality Elastomers business (MCSE) has introduced a new range of antimicrobial rubber compounds called Elastoguard. The company is aiming the materials at rubber parts used in fond-processing, the medical and...

UK buy for Milliken. (antimicrobial rubber).
June 1, 2003... Milliken & Co. is a major chemicals and textiles group. Its Milliken Chemical division acquired the Middleton unit in 1998 when it bought UK custom rubber compounder WOM International. MCSE's 13 300 [m.sup.2] unit employs over 90 people and...

Japanese car makers more trusted than Big 3. (Rubber News).
June 1, 2003... Automotive suppliers prefer to work with Japanese automakers over the US-based Big 3. Those feelings have grown stronger in recent years. In 17 measures ranging from trust to perceived opportunity to make acceptable profits, Japanese car...

ZF Boge Elastmetall automates rubber-to-metal bush production: German manufacturer of automotive antivibration parts claims to have developed an automated system with many bonuses and none of the drawbacks for making rubber-to-metal bonded parts. (Automation in bushes).
June 1, 2003... Boge GmbH and ZF Elastmetall GmbH--both rubber-to-metal bonding experts--used to be arch rivals for contracts. But following the integration of the Boge unit within the ZF Group over the last two years, the competitors have become a unified...

Car makers' demands for cost-down accelerate: not only are the car makers seeking price cuts on all contracts, but they are seeking them more often. (Automotive).
June 1, 2003... Suppliers must expect automakers to push them for cost cuts several times a year, a new study on pricing pressures in the auto industry has found. The study, Price Pressure Demands of the Automobile Manufacturers 2002, was carried out by...

Ford changes approach for giant C1 platform project.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... About 1.6 million cars per year are expected to be based on Ford's new C1 platform. This makes it the biggest joint development project in the company's history. The next Ford Focus and Mazda 3 and Volvo S40 and V40 replacements due later...

Ziebart expects more change at Continental: Continental AG has progressed a long way in its ambition to change from a tyre supplier to a supplier of automotive braking and steering systems. Here, Wolfgang Ziebart, deputy chairman, discusses some of the remaining issues for Conti. (Automotive).(Interview)
June 1, 2003... Wolfgang Ziebart is deputy chairman of Germany's Continental group and the board member responsible for Continental Automotive Systems, which supplies a number of products including braking and steering systems and automotive electronics....

Aramid for automotive applications: despite sharply increasing prices, car component suppliers are choosing to use aramid fibres to reinforce hoses, belts and even tyres. The tight supply situation should ease in 2003, say suppliers. (Automotive fibres).
June 1, 2003... Aramid fibre is gaining ground in the rubber sector, especially among automotive end-users, with growth rates of around 10 percent per year. Or the growth rates would have reached that figure if many of the customers had not been put on...

Automotive applications for aramid fibre. (Automotive fibres).
June 1, 2003... The diesel engine market is growing fast, according to Hans Janssen, technical service advisor with Teijin-Twaron. He said roughly 12 percent of all diesel engines are currently turbocharged, but this is likely to increase to over 60 percent in...

Indian tyre industry report: the Indian Automotive Tyre Manufacturer's Association (ATMA) collects data on the Indian tyre industry. Here we summarise a recent ATMA report. (Indian tyre industry).
June 1, 2003... India's tyre industry supplies role of the largest markets in the world. However, harsh import tariffs close the market to most external competition. Basic import duty on tyres is 30 percent, with a further 30 percent in excise duty, making...

Ansell Ltd. (Personnel news).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... [] Glove maker ANSELL LTD has appointed Rainer Wolf as head of global manufacturing, Wolf will be based in Shah Alam, Malaysia. and report directly to Harry Boon, Ansell's ceo, in Red Bank. New Jersey.

Columbian Chemical. (Personnel news).(hired Larry Spickard as senior vice president, operations)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... [] Larry Spickard has joined COLUMBIAN CHEMICALS as senior vice president, operations He will be responsible for Columbian's manufacturing, supply chain, engineering, customer service and quality assurance process groups COLUMBIAN CHEMICALS has...

Magnifoam Technology International Inc. (Personnel news).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... [] MAGNIFOAM TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL INC. of Mississauga, Canada, has appointed John Boots as senior vice president, finance and chief financial officer, replacing Ron Brooks, who has stepped down as cfo.

Trelleborg Engineered Systems. (Personnel news).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Peter Nilsson has replaced George Brunstam as president of TRELLEBORG ENGINEERED SYSTEMS. Brunstam has become president and ceo of Swedish plastics processor NOLATO AB. Also at TRELLEBORG, in the UK Ron Smith has been made president at...

Hampden Test Equipment Ltd. (Personnel news).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... In the UK, Dick Martin has become a sales engineer for HAMPDEN TEST EQUIPMENT LTD, a subsidiary of SATRA TECHNOLOGY CENTRE.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (Personnel news).(chairman Samir Gibara will resign and be succeeded by Robert Keega)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... [] At GOODYEAR TIRE & RUBBER CO., chairman Samir Gibara will resign 30 June and be succeeded by Robert Keegan, the company's president and chief executive officer. Also at GOODYEAR, Daniel Lewis, director of staffing and recruiting, has been...

Dow Europe's Synthetic Rubber. (Personnel news).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Norman Latham has been appointed product manager for DOW EUROPE S SYNTHETIC RUBBER business, replacing Andreas Mader.

Wacker-Chemie GMBH. (Personnel news).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... [] At WACKER-CHEMIE GMBH, Christoph von Plotho has been appointed president of WACKER SPECIALITIES, maker of binders and polymer additives He succeeds Albert Baehny who has left the group

Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. (Personnel news).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... [] COOPER TIRE & RUBBER CO. has reorganised its COOPER-STANDARD AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, combining the North American and international operations of its Global Fluid Systems and Global Sealing Systems Divisions under two executive vice presidents:...

Davis-Standard. (Personnel news).(appointed Mark Woodgate European marketing director for the aftermarket division)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... [] Extruder maker DAVIS-STANDARD has appointed Mark Woodgate European marketing director for the aftermarket division, responsible for the sale of foodscrews and extrusion barrels in the UK and Europe,

Sartomer Co. (Personnel news).(appointed Steve Edwards business and market development manager for the Asia-Pacific region)
June 1, 2003... [] SARTOMER CO, has expanded further into the Asian market, appointing Steve Edwards business and market development manager for the Asia-Pacific region.

Diary.(Calendar)
June 1, 2003... Readers are strongly advised to confirm details with organisers before making any travel arrangements. An updated list of industry events is available on the ERJ website at http://www.crain.no.uk/ * ITRA Expo 2003. Date tba: Louisville,...

European car sales continue falling trend. (ERJ dataflow).
June 1, 2003... Information We present here a series of charts and tables which are meant to give a snapshot of how the rubber industry is performing. The price of rubber on the Singapore commodity exchange is possibly the most important price in the...

Crunch time for the SR business. (postscript).(synthetic rubber)(Bayer Polymers)
June 1, 2003... Tyre makers are going to have to pay more for their rubber. And the demand is long overdue. Prices in the volume SR sector--butyl, butadiene and SBR--have been too low for too long. No-one is making enough to both re-invest and get a sensible...