European Rubber Journal articles from May 2004

European Rubber Journal archives from May 2004

Conti bids [euro]290 million to buy rival Phoenix; Acquisition likely to be followed by restructuring, says Continental chairman Manfred Wennemer speaking exclusively to ERJ; he outlined the firm's global tyre strategy, highlighting its search for a partner in China.(News)
May 1, 2004... Byline: Liz White : Continental AG has made a [euro]290-million offer for its smaller German rival in technical rubber goods production, Phoenix AG. "We are confident that we will be able to buy some 75 percent of the shares," in Phoenix,...

Restructured Pirelli aims for new opportunities; Low-cost production sites for Italian tyre maker may include China-but only if the right commercial opportunity arises.(News)
May 1, 2004... Byline: Liz White : Structural reorganisation at tyre and cable maker Pirelli & C SpA during 2003 has given the group a "simple stronger structure," consisting of five units under one management group, as opposed to the earlier three...

ERJ newsbrief: Parker expands seals plant in Czech Republic.(Briefs)
May 1, 2004... : Parker Hannifin Corp. plans to build an O-ring factory in Sadska near Podebrady in the Czech Republic in 2005. The seal and hose maker will also spend CKr45 million ([euro]1.4 million) on a new trading centre in Prague, to be opened later...

Lanxess on a difficult mission: to make money.(News)
May 1, 2004... Byline: Patrick Raleigh : A continuing slump at Bayer AG's rubber business in 2003 highlighted the size of the task awaiting Lanxess-the new name for the company charged with turning around the group's chemicals, rubber, rubber chemicals...

Turkey bans tyre industry strike, after talks fail.(News)
May 1, 2004... Byline: Patrick Raleigh : Turkey's government on 21 March imposed a 60-day ban on a strike by Lastik-Is- the national tyre workers union-on grounds of 'national security,' according to ICEM, the International Federation of Chemical,...

SSL glove sale flounders: woundcare business sold; New deadline for sale of medical gloves unit as SSL sells woundcare business.(News)
May 1, 2004... Byline: Liz White : SSL International plc's sale of its medical gloves business to a preferred bidder has fallen through, after reaching deadlock over the value of business. One company, and possibly more, has replaced the first bidder,...

Cooper to explore sale of automotive business.(News)
May 1, 2004... Byline: Liz White : Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. is exploring whether to sell its Cooper-Standard Automotive Group-a division which accounts for around half the organisation's total sales. The company has retained Lazard Freres to help in the...

Amtel-Nokian Russian tyre JV on the way out.(News)
May 1, 2004... Byline: Liz White : Nokian Tyres plc announced 15 Mar that it aims to terminate its two-year-old joint venture with Amtel in Russia. The JV Amtel-Nokian Tyres was set up to market B-segment Nokian-brand tyres in Russia. The Finnish...

ERJ newsbrief: Stomil Sanok adds equipment.(Briefs)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... : Polish firm Stomil Sanok SA is adding more mixer-feeding equipment at its technical rubber goods factory in Stomil, according to UK machinery maker Chronos Richardson Ltd. The Nottingham, UK-based supplier of materials handling systems...

GDX can be fixed, but at what cost?(News)
May 1, 2004... Byline: Liz White : Losses at automotive profile maker GDX Automotive, particularly in its European operations, are causing parent group GenCorp Inc. to examine the future of production at its Grefrath, Germany plant. And the wider future...

Goodyear NR substitution plan to woo investors; Concern over rising natural rubber prices spurs efforts to develop synthetic rubber grades and blends which can replace NR.(News)
May 1, 2004... Byline: Bruce Davis ERJ Akron bureau : Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. claims it can reduce its use of natural rubber by as much as 15 percent in the next few years, thanks to advances it has made in synthetic rubber chemistry and blending. ...

Agreement at Stocken.(News)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... : Continental recently announced an investment of [euro]20 million at its commercial vehicle tyre plant at Stocken, in Hannover, said Wennemer, following an agreement with unions and workers on flexible working time. The cash will be used...

ERJ newsbriefs.(Briefs)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... : Berstorff introduces quad extruder head for tyres * Hannover, Germany-As part of a new tread extrusion line for a world-leading tyre manufacturer, Berstorff GmbH of Hannover, Germany, has developed a new quadruplex extrusion head, capable...

Dow Corning technology to cut the cost of silanes; Breakthrough claimed to offer major savings, which could expand use of 'green' tyres.(News)
May 1, 2004... Byline: David Shaw : Dow Corning Corp. is now going commercial with a cheaper, drop-in replacement for the organosilanes used in 'green' tyres. The company built a 16-kilotonne-per-annum plant in Midland, Michigan, in 2002 which uses a...

Coating is alternative to salt-bath curing; Former Pirelli man develops new approach to profiles curing.(News)
May 1, 2004... Byline: David Shaw : Roberto Baffico, a consultant to the rubber sector, and former employee of Pirelli SpA's non-tyre business, claims to have developed a new process that allows peroxide-cured compounds to be cured in air. ...

Crompton pleads guilty to price-fixing; $57-million fine for Crompton in rubber chemicals case, as urethanes materials join the list of cases pending.(News)
May 1, 2004... Byline: Bruce Davis, Miles Moore ERJ Akron bureau, ERJ Washington bureau : Crompton Corp. has pleaded guilty to price-fixing in the rubber chemicals market and been fined $57 million by US and Canadian authorities. The company also...

ERJ people.(People )(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... : Dr Lim Keng Yaik leaves * Kuala Lumpur-Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik has left the Malaysian Ministry of Primary Industries after 18 years, in a cabinet re-shuffle. He becomes the new Minister of Energy, Water and Communication. Dr Lim's...

Partners mull dissolving DuPont Dow Elastomers.(News)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... : Dow Chemical Co. and DuPont Co. are reviewing prospects for their DuPont Dow Elastomers llc joint venture, with dissolving the venture and splitting the assets being one possible scenario. In connection with DuPont Dow Elastomers'...

Automotive elastomers go specialised; In an interview with one of Europe's key suppliers of speciality elastomers, ERJ looks at the changes in the automotive environment and how those changes are having a profound effect on the types of elastomeric materials needed in the automotive sector.(News)
May 1, 2004... Byline: David Shaw : Automotive OEMs are moving to platform-based manufacturing, a trend that has major implications for rubber parts suppliers, according to Walter Heider, senior manager of Zeon Europe GmbH, based in Dusseldorf, Germany....

Performance and value; The focus falls on ethylene-based elastomers as DuPont Dow Elastomers develops grades for automotive interior applications.(News)
May 1, 2004... Byline: David Shaw : The focus falls on ethylene-based elastomers as DuPont Dow Elastomers develops grades for automotive interior applications. But fluoroelastomers are not being neglected, as the firm's senior managers discussed during a...

Ford cost-cut plan irks suppliers.(News)
May 1, 2004... Byline: Amy Wilson, Robert Sherefkin Crain news service : Ford says its Team Value Management cost-cutting programme is living up to expectations. Some suppliers disagree: * Ford: Collaborating with suppliers is a core value of TVM...

Technology showdown sparked by EU rules; Hydrofluorocarbon emission rules could change A/C hose requirements.(News)
May 1, 2004... : A technology showdown is brewing which could substantially raise the costs of future automotive air conditioners. Air-conditioning suppliers are struggling to meet proposed new EU environmental rules on hydrofluorocarbon emissions that...

The Phoenix operation.(News)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... : Phoenix's core activities are automotive vibration control (Vibracoustic) and acoustic insulation (the Stankiewicz operation); traffic technology (parts for rail vehicles, trucks and trailers); automotive and industrial fluid-handling...

HNBR makers in price battle; Suppliers of hydrogenated nitrile rubber (HNBR) are trying to reverse a negative pricing trend.(News)
May 1, 2004... Byline: Patrick Raleigh : Bayer MaterialScience AG and Zeon Corp.-the two main producers of hydrogenated nitrile rubber (HNBR)-are seeking to counter cost-down pressures, which have permeated through even to this niche sector. Bayer...

Firestone air-spring system for smarter ride.(News)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... : Firestone Industrial Products Co. has a new electronic air spring system designed to optimise suspension performance as it receives input from the driver, the vehicle and the road. The IntelliRide designated system allows the driver to...

Conti launches airspring production in Korea; Korean JV starts new production line.(News)
May 1, 2004... Byline: Liz White : Hannover, Germany-based ContiTech Air Spring Systems has launched volume production of airsprings for commercial vehicles at its new site in Seonghwan, Korea, 80 km south of Seoul. Airsprings are made on what ContiTech...

F1 is not really a 'tyre war'; The rules in Formula 1 racing have changed, reducing the technological wizardry available to race teams, and permitting each team to run on different tyres. These changes have prompted some to describe the 2004 F1 season as the 'Tyre War'. Is the tagline justified?(News)
May 1, 2004... Byline: David Shaw : Some have dubbed the current season of Formula 1 racing the 'tyre war', but Bridgestone's Hirohide Hamashima, head of motor sport development, disagrees, arguing that tyres play only a small part in the success or...

CCG show a 'success'; Paris rubber show goes ahead despite a dispute between its backer organisations in France, Italy and Spain. Attendees are upbeat but express some concerns over the competition emerging from the new EU accession countries.(News)(Caoutchouc, Caucho, Gomma)(Francaise des Ingenieurs et Cadres du Caoutchouc et des Plastiques)
May 1, 2004... Byline: David Shaw : CCG -short for Caoutchouc, Caucho, Gomma-was held in Paris 9-11 March amid a certain amount of controversy over the organisation. Gerard Flauraud, head of the organisers, AFICEP, said the event had originally been...

Jevsa compounds mainly for Spain.(News)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... : Jevsa operates three lines, all less than eight years old, and supplies most of its compound to factories in Spain. Total capacity (excluding the Spanish line) is about 54 kilotonnes per annum. About 65 percent of volume goes to Spain, said...

Elastorsa is looking to China.(News)
May 1, 2004... : Elastorsa group has three factories, two in Spain, one in France, and has capacity for more than 2 kt of rubber compounds a month. Each plant is, in effect, a different company: Formix SA in France, and Elastorsa and C Bracamonti in Spain....

Trigo: when time is tight.(News)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... : Trigo is unusual among rubber processors. It will make whatever customers want, to extremely tight deadlines. And then charge for it. The company is relatively small, employing 12 and showing a turnover of around [euro]3 million, but,...

Tecno Compounds is expanding.(News)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... : Tecno Compounds, a division of Parker ITR srl, operates two large compounding factories in Italy, and is currently clearing space in its Siziano, northern Italy factory to add a fourth mixing line. Last June, the company said it wanted to...

Alpha focus on shop floor.(News)(production process analyser)
May 1, 2004... : Alpha Technologies has simplified and adapted its production process analyser (PPA) system to suit shop-floor requirements. The changes-which include simplifying the operation of the unit, reducing the number of samples queued for analysis,...

Record earnings & sales.(News)
May 1, 2004... : Uncertainty about the global economy, despite signs of improvement, means that any sustainable economic recovery may not materialise in 2004, Continental said in its results statement for 2003. But Wennemer added that the first quarter of...

Diary.(Calendar)(Brief Article)(Calendar)
May 1, 2004... : May * Blowing agents & foaming processes 2004, 6th international conference. 10-11 May: Hamburg. Contact Rapra. Tel +44 1939 250383, fax +44 1939 251118. * SRC 2004, 16th international rubber conference. 19-20 May, P[pounds...

Looking ahead - June 2004 issue - Medical applications.(News)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... : The pharmaceutical industry is one of the most demanding-in terms of purity and performance-of any served by the elastomer processors. Medical-grade materials need to be inert, to avoid any interaction with the many biological molecules in...

European car sales show signs of recovery.(News)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... : 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...

ERJ newsbrief: Conti switches tube suppliers to Metro, from Sava.(Briefs)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... : Continental AG is to switch suppliers for the majority of its car tyre inner tubes to Metro Tyres of India and away from Sava dd of Kranj, Slovenia. Meanwhile Metro is building a [euro]6-million inner tube plant outside New Delhi, India. ...

Hexagon buys Thona, takes European top spot; Swedish rubber compounder buys Belgian firm, gains plants in US and Canada to become a major player in the global business.(News)
May 1, 2004... Byline: Liz White : Hexagon Polymers of Sweden has become the leading rubber compounder in Europe through its acquisition of Belgian-based custom compounder Thona Group, for an undisclosed amount. Adding Thona's Belgian and Czech...

ERJ newsbrief: Fukoku, Tokai form AVS partnership in Indonesia.(Briefs)(Fukoku Tokai Rubber)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... : Two large Japanese rubber processors have formed a joint venture to make automotive antivibration parts in Indonesia, according to a public announcement. Fukoku Rubber and Tokai Rubber have called the new company PT. Fukoku Tokai Rubber...

Wellington examines plan to set up in China; UK seals group focusses on cutting costs further, as profits start to grow.(News)
May 1, 2004... Byline: Liz White : Wellington Holdings plc plans to set up a production plant for its seals business in Asia Pacific, "probably in China," and "probably in the Shanghai area," within the next two years, said group chief executive Chris...

ERJ newsbrief: Yokohama Rubber to set up seals plant in China.(Briefs)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Byline: Liz White : Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd has gained approval from the Chekiang Province authorities in China to set up a company in Hangzhou City-Yokohama Hamatite (Hangzhou) Co. Ltd-to make sealant for passenger cars. In the first...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
May 1, 2004... : Incorrect report on Rhodia Silica Systems Unfortunately, the item in our last issue reporting on a new silica reinforcing agent contained a couple of errors (ERJ April 2004, p22). Firstly, it gave an incorrect name for the company,...

Tech Pro focuses on scorch testing.(News)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... : Tech Pro Europe GmbH, the Bruggen, Germany-based test equipment maker, aims to establish itself as a technical leader in the sector. And, already, "sales are through the roof," claimed Peter Day, its managing director, who attributed this to...

Synthetics and substitution.(Column)
May 1, 2004... Byline: David Shaw : A press release from Goodyear recently set me thinking about the extent to which tyre makers can switch between natural and synthetic rubber. Traditionally, the natural rubber community has seen synthetic materials as...