European Rubber Journal articles from March 2000

European Rubber Journal archives from March 2000

Pirelli buys some BICC-General's cables units.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2000... Pirelli strengthens energy cables business in Italy, UK, buying various BICCGeneral units for $216 million Italian cables major Pirelli Cave e Sistemi SpA has bought a large chunk of the energy cables business of US-based cables company...

European hose returns unsatisfactory for Tomkins.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... Tomkins plc's industrial and automotive engineering business, which includes the Gates Rubber Co. and other rubber-related activities, reported increases in both earnings and sales for the six months to 30 Oct, 1999. Sales for the business...

Cooper considers sale of plastics business.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... [] Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. is seeking a buyer for its plastics division, the firm said in an 8 Feb results statement which was accompanied by the announcement of a new chief executive for the organisation. Cooper's $215-million turnover...

New AV alliance covers Japan, Europe and US.(anti-vibration)(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2000... Pulstra and Bridgestone form alliance in automotive anti-vibration parts to supply global platforms, including Japanese ones. Hutchinson subsidiary Paulstra and the engineered products unit of Bridgestone Corp. have formed a strategic...

Finance group buys BTR Sealing Systems.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... UK-based finance house will retain former management of automotive weatherstrip maker BTR Sealing Systems in a `hands-off' policy. After more than six months of negotiations, BTR Sealing Systems, the global leader in vehicle...

ThyssenKrupp: a clarification.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... Krupp ElastomerTechnik has asked us to clarify that its business will either find a buyer, or will find some other way to continue, following the restructuring of the merged ThyssenKrupp group. In our January issue, we indicated that one of...

Manuli advances IT integration.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... The four Italian companies in the MRI Group--Manuli Rubber Industries SpA, Murray Europe SpA, Manuli Auto Italia SpA and Hydrofit SpA--have installed the SAP R/3 integrated information technology system, Manuli has announced. Marking a...

Goodyear to add belts, airsprings in Slovenia.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... Goodyear's first European venture in engineered parts in Slovenia expands transmission belt production and starts airspring manufacture. Goodyear is gearing up power transmission belt production at its Kranj plant in Slovenia and expanding...

Rubber news: ERJ newsbriefs.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... SSL buys Seton Scholl Japan from partner [] London--Spurred by its desire to expand in Japan, SSL International plc has signed a letter of intent to buy out its joint venture partner in Seton Scholl Japan Ltd, an operation formed in the...

Vernay links with Polycomp for materials.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... Dutch-based part maker Vernay allies with local compounder Polycomp to source material for its global operations. Vernay Europa Holding BV, has signed a cooperation agreement with Polycomp BV, an elastomer compounding firm, located 40 km...

Degussa-Huls to buy Thai silica, Polish black units.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... Degussa-Huls expands, buying a major share silica plant in Thailand and a carbon black unit in Poland. Would-be leading silicas supplier in Asia, Degussa-Huls AG, has acquired production facilities in Maptaphut, Thailand, from Oriental...

Metalastik upgrades UK plant.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... [] Leicester, UK--Elastomeric suspension and antivibration systems firm Metalastik Ltd has recently completed a 12-month, 1-million [pounds sterling] ($1.6 million) investment with the installation of a new "canning" facility at its Leicester...

UK firm unveils $52m tyres-to-energy project.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... UK to get new tyres-to-energy plant. Pyrocombustion process The Four Ashes plant is based on UK technology and will feature five pyrocombustor units. Car or lorry tyres, fed whole into the pyrocombustors, are pyrolysed at 700...

Bridgestone inks second China tyre deal.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... Bridgestone Corp. has acquired a second tyre plant in China, paying $75 million to take control of Tianjin-based tyre manufacturer, Tianjin Kumho Tire Co. Ltd, from Kumho Industrial Co. Ltd of Korea. Under the deal, signed in Tokyo on 31...

Tyre industry news: ERJ newsbriefs.(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2000... New power plant for Michelin UK Site [] London--PowerGen CHP Ltd is to construct a 40-million [pounds sterling] combined heat and power (CHP) plant at Michelin Tyre plc's Stokeon-Trent, UK, site. PowerGen will own and operate the CHP...

DSM forms TPV alliance in Japan.(DSM Thermoplastic Elastomers)(thermoplastic vulcanisates)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... DSM's new alliance with Toyoba aims to develop the important Japanese market for DSM's Sarlink thermoplastic vulcanisates. DSM Thermoplastic Elastomers of Sittard, The Netherlands, has formed a strategic alliance with Toyobo Co. Ltd of...

Mark IV looks at change in commercial strategy.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... Company sale or merger among possible options as earnings for major hose and belt maker Mark IV fail to satisfy investors. The board of Mark IV Industries Inc., frustrated by the performance of the company's stock, is exploring "strategic...

Thona eyes US site.(Thona Corp.)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... Thona may make automotive bodyseals in US, to be near OE customers. Quebec-based Thona Corp. is evaluating sites in the US to make its core automotive body sealing products. Thona founder and chairman Rolf Nutten, who is also the firm's new...

GE Toshiba Silicones to manufacture in China.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... The growing silicones market in China prompts GE Toshiba Silicones to set up plant in Shanghai. Tokyo--GE Toshiba Silicones Co. Ltd is investing $25 million to establish a silicone resin manufacturing venture in Shanghai, China, to be...

Chinese SR supplier in shares issue.(styrene rubber)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... Chinese rubber maker Jilin Chemical is part of privatisation scheme. Chinese petrochemicals, chemicals and rubber company, Jilin Chemical Industrial Co. Ltd has gained China Securities Regulatory Commission approval to issue 150 000 000 A...

Supplier news: ERJ newsbriefs.(European Rubber Journal)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... Hanna turnaround in fourth quarter [] Cleveland, Ohio--Despite a results decline during 1999, Cleveland-based MA Hanna Co. was buoyed by fourth quarter gains, which its management linked to recent business improvement initiatives. ...

Woosung gains stability, becomes Nexen.(Woosung Tire Corp.)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... New backing for Korean tyre maker Woosung means $20 million investment, and a name change to Nexen. Woosung Tire Corp., South Korea's troubled tyre maker, is entering the new century with a new name, a better fiscal outlook and the first...

Malaysia, Thailand ally to support NR prices.(natural rubber)(Brief Article)(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2000... NR producing countries join in move to buy INRO buffer stock as it comes on market. Natural rubber will be scarce in 10 years unless corrective steps are taken now, warn officials of the moribund International Natural Rubber Organisation....

EIU expects double NR prices by 2001.(Economist Intelligence Unit)(Brief Article)(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2000... Rubber prices will rise substantially through 2000-2001, says forecast. Industrial prices for commodities will recover strong? in 2000, "led by improving rubber prices," forecasts the Economist Intelligence Unit, in its regular commodities...

Watts compounding unit sets out stall.(Watts Industrial Polymers)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... Acquisition of Wellington's rubber compounding unit prompts reorganisation at UK compounding firm. Watts Industrial Group has finalised the team to lead the new rubber compounding business, which integrates its existing Lydney, UK,...

Rubber industry news: ERJ newsbriefs.(European Rubber Journal)
March 1, 2000... New Czech plant for Saar-Gummi Werk [] Nachod--Rubber parts maker Saar Gummi Werk of Germany is to start construction of a new rubber parts plant in Cerveny Kostelec, in the Czech Republic, early in 2000, according to a report from the...

Willcox rescues UK unit of Lewis & Peat.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... London and Connecticut units of rubber trader Lewis & Peat rescued from receivership by REB Willcox. Lewis & Peat's rubber trading operations in Europe and the US have been saved from bankruptcy but the firm's Singapore-based Far East...

Rhodia exceeding targets as new business takes shape.
March 1, 2000... Strong upstream raw material integration or serving a wide range of niches in a specific market are hallmarks of a revitalised Rhodia--whose industrial specialities division supplies silicones, silica and latex to the rubber processing sector...

Tyre industry in India surges.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... Indian tyre production recovers as car manufacture also rises. Michelin edges closer to choosing a site for its Indian plant. The Indian tyre industry is waking up from a recession-induced, two-year slumber. Truck and bus tyre production...

ERJ people.(appointments and selections in the rubber industry)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... Buysse to chair Bekaert [] Ex-BTR executive Paul Buysse is in line to become chairman of the Bekaert Group. Buysse spent from 1989 to 1998 with the BTR group, the last four years as managing director of BTR plc. He is currently ceo of...

AlphaGary opens `world class' plant for TPEs.
March 1, 2000... Laporte plc's new compounding unit in the UK has doubled capacity to 40 ktpa and plans are already in hand for a further line for regulated products for bottle cap liners and other food-grade and medical uses. AlphaGary Ltd's new 12 000...

Machinery makers continued to grow in 1999.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... While many machinery suppliers noted a mixed year in 1999, the overall effect has been for ERJ to record an increase for almost 18 percent in global rubber machinery sales since our last survey a year ago. Tyres and automotive markets have...

Companies take up presence on web.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... Rubber machinery companies have adopted a major presence on the web. Of all the companies listed in this year's survey--133--just 18 appear to have no presence on the web, while a further 10 do not have their own website, leaving 79 percent of...

Kobe Steel tops the list.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... Rankings of companies in the machinery sector show that the injection moulding machinery business is growing, while the Japanese still dominate in the tyre sector. In the world of machinery makers for the rubber industry, Japanese...

Rubber machinery listing 2000.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... Internal mixers (see also New/Refurbished, p42) Carter Bros (Rochdale) Ltd www.carter-mixers.co.uk Product range: Internal mixers, lab scale to 270 |, tangential or interlocking. Two roll mills, lab scale to 26x84-inch. Mill...

Control systems go wide-area.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... In the 80s, and even into the 90s, networks of machines designed to produce rubber components were based around proprietory protocols, which meant that users could only link together machines from the same manufacturer. Some suppliers...

Machinery--mill room.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... General mill room equipment, mills, calenders, batch offs (see also under New/refurbished and Refurbished) Agila NV www.agila.be Product range: Open mills from laboratory scale to production sizes; laboratory presses; bale...

Machinery--extruders.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... Extruders, preformers, extrussion curing equipment (see also under New/refurbished and Refurbished) Axon Plastic Machinery AB No website found Product range: Extruders, 10-90mm, for silicone rubber & TPEs, Vertical curing...

Machinery--tyres.
March 1, 2000... Tyre building machines, tyre moulds, presses and other equipment (see also under New/refurbished and Refurbished) Akron Rubber Machinery Inc. www.recycle.net/recycle/equip/rs000802.html Product range: All types of rubber/tyre...

Machinery--moulding.
March 1, 2000... Injection and compression moulding machines Arburg GmbH + Co. www.arburg.com/home.htm Product range: Injection moulding machines for rubber and plastics. Sales: N/A Employees: 1750 (group) R&D...

Machinery--pre-owned.
March 1, 2000... New and refurbished equipment Erie Mill & Press Co. www.empco-inc.com Product range: Internal mixers 9. Mills, lab size to 260x84-inch. Stockblenders, aprons, 1. Presses. Calenders, extruders. Sales: $4.55m from $5.25M...

Machinery--Misc.
March 1, 2000... Miscellaneous--includes dipping machines, cutting equipment, and recycling plants ACC Automation Co. www.accautomation.com Product range: Dip moulding systems for latex, PU, vinyl (15 units sold 1998, 15 expected for 1999). ...

Mannesman preparing for IPO spinoff--before Vodafone deal.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... Munich, Germany--Germany's Mannesmann Plastics Machinery AG will be part of a separate, publicly traded company expected to be spun off later this year from Mannesmann AG, according to MPM executive Gerhard Becker. German-based rubber extrusion...

It was such a surprise.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2000... I think everybody who knew about Lewis & Peat was surprised to find that the receivers had been called in right at the end of 1999. Following that announcement, however, I think we were all relieved to hear in February that rescuers had been...