European Rubber Journal articles from September 2000

European Rubber Journal archives from September 2000

Thona sells N American seals unit to SaarGummi.(Thona Group)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Nutten sells rubber product-making activities to avoid competing with customers of the compounding business. Thona Group has sold its North American automotive seal business to SaarGummi of Germany for an undisclosed sum. The deal includes...

Japanese firms join in automotive suspensions.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2000... Suppliers of tyres, antivibration components, brakes and shock absorbers unite to develop better performing suspensions at lower weight. Bridgestone Corp. is setting up a joint research project with two other Japanese firms to help develop...

Phoenix buys Dunlop Oil and Marine hose unit.(Phoenix AG)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2000... German processor, Phoenix raises sales in lucrative oil/marine hose sector through purchase of Dunlop unit--and gains an enviable brand name. Phoenix AG has acquired Dunlop Oil & Marine Ltd (DOM). The move, announced 31 July, substantially...

Tech centre for Paulstra.(Paulstra Automotive Antivibration)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... New tech centre has product development groups devoted to specific customers. Paulstra Automotive Antivibration, a unit of Hutchinson SA, officially opened a new 3200[m.sup.2] technical centre at its Chateaudun, France site on 15 June. The...

Gains at TI seals unit.(TI Group Speciality Polymer Products)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2000... TI Group's Specialty Polymer Products unit recorded sales up 66 percent to 214.6m [pounds sterling] and operating profit 73 percent higher at 31.2 million [pounds sterling], compared to the first half of 1999. The performance reflected the...

Dunlop GRG to close compounding operation.(Dunlop GRG Holdings Ltd)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Unprofitable rubber compounding unit to be closed, but jobs are secure. Compounders sell their expertise for too little, says chief executive. Manchester, UK-based Dunlop GRG Holdings is to stage "a managed exit" from the loss-making...

Unipoly closes UK steelcord belting unit.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... UK hose and belting producer says strength of pound versus Euro is last straw on top of low demand and prices below UK production costs in heavy-duty conveyor belt sector. UK rubber group Unipoly Sit is to cease production of...

RUBBER NEWS: ERJ newsbriefs.(multiple topics)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Toyoda Gosei UK plant nearly ready to open... [] Rotherham UK--Toyoda Gosei UK Ltd (TGUK) has started trial production at its new automotive weatherstrip facility in Rotherham, UK, a TGUK spokesperson said 26 June. The 23-million...

Four rubber firms jostle for top non-tyre ranking.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Hutchinson, Tomkins, Freudenberg vie with Bridgestone as largest global non-tyre product maker, but restructuring is the dominant force in the industry this year. The top rung of the global non-tyre rubber products sales rankings--and the...

Icon starts buying spree with Warne acquisition.(Icon Material Technologies)(William Warne Ltd)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2000... New rubber group starts with combined expertise in specialist compounding and processing, making seals for roadsweepers and pharmaceutical uses. Icon Material Technologies of Camberley, UK, has bought another UK firm, William Warne Ltd of...

Tomkins seeks growth through system supply.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Following 1999's success, Tomkins is holding steady to growth strategy. Banking on strong year-end results, Tomkins plc said it will continue its strategy of organic growth and opportune bolt-on acquisitions to expand its core industrial...

Freudenberg signs global union deal.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Worldwide union/management framework for negotiating work rules agreed. Freudenberg Group has signed a global labour agreement with the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) covering union...

ERJ people.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Dietrich Brichzin Industry loses respected figure [] Hamburg, Germany--Dietrich Brichzin died on 29 June after a distinguished career in the rubber industry, including 30 years with Sohill & Seilacher of Hamburg. Brichzin's role in...

CVC-owned seals plant to close in UK.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... 400 jobs to go as UK sealing systems plant closes. Overcapacity, competition from east Europe and price in UK auto supply listed as causes. CVC Capital Partners company, Metzeler Automotive Profiles, formerly BTR Sealing Systems, is to...

Robinson to close plant.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Strong pound, high operating costs for chemicals plants, blamed for closure of Cambois, Northumberland, unit. Rubber chemicals supplier Robinson Bros Ltd is to close its plant in Cambois, Northumberland within a few weeks, managing director...

Conti air-springs JV in Asia.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Korea is intended site of JV for Conti's air-spring unit, in a bid for global supply structure for truck suspensions. ContiTech Luftfedersysteme GmbH, the airsprings unit of Hannover, Germany-headquartered ContiTech AG, has signed a letter...

Vita firm preparing to roll in US and Asia.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... British Vita aims to expand into the US and Asia-Pacific by selecting good partners. These partnership should help speed deliveries of its roll covering compounds. UK-based Vita-Calender, which claims to be Europe s no. 1 supplier of...

PolyOne cleared by US authorities.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Hanna results hit by Rubber Division performance ahead of PolyOne launch. The waiting period for a US competition authority review of the proposed merger of MA Hanna Co. and Geon Co. has expired leaving the companies free to complete the...

Dunlop operations bolster Goodyear sales.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Gains from acquisition counter material costs and market pressures. Goodyear second-quarter sales figures continued to reflect the integration of Dunlop operations into the company, while earnings suffered during the period because of raw...

Goodyear to build moulded goods plant in Mexico.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Separately, Goodyear said it will begin construction this autumn of a plant to make moulded transport parts in Mexico to help meet increased product demand in North America and Latin America. The $16 million facility will make engine mounts...

Michelin in Chinese talks.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Michelin investigates more possibilities in China, as talks with Shanghai Tire are confirmed... Groupe Michelin is in talks with Shanghai Tire and Rubber Co. Ltd, a spokeswoman for the French tyre maker confirmed 27 July. However...

world news.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... 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 biased information China: New rubber site []...

Israeli tyre maker transfers production.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... $75 million expansion at Alliance includes relocation to Hadera unit. Alliance Tire Co. has closed its 10 kilotonnes per annum (ktpa) tyre plant in Petach-Tikva, near Tel Aviv, and transferred production about 30 miles north to its main...

TYRE NEWS: ERJ newsbriefs.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Pirelli shares probe [] Milan, Italy--The italian agency which monitors the country's stock exchange, filed a report on 24 July on possible insider trading of Pirelli SpA shares prior to the launch of its new Modular Integrated Roboticised...

AES unveils new co-extruded profile system.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Introduction of co-extrusion system signals patent battle among the big suppliers. Advanced Elastomer Systems NV/SA, in collaboration with Paul Troester Maschinenfabrik, has developed a single-step co-extrusion process to make hybrid...

INRO buffer stock turmoil continues.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Rubber market burdened by INRO legacy. The International Natural Rubber Organisation council meeting, due to have been held in Kuala Lumpur in July, was postponed amid disagreement over the sell off of the moribund group's buffer stock....

SUPPLIER NEWS: ERJ newsbriefs.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Maxxim gloves for Novation [] Medical goods supplier Maxxim Medical Inc. has agreed with Novation Inc. to buy Malaysian-made, powder-free latex and nitrile medical examination gloves. While US-based Maxxim would not comment on the...

Nizhnekamsk may buy stake in Efremov.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Tartarstan rubber producer keen to buy stake in ailing Russian plant, and expand into chlorobutyl and solution SBR. Nizhnekamskneftekhim Inc. has confirmed that it is considering purchasing a 25 percent stake in the Efremov synthetic rubber...

AtoFina ups SBS output.(styrene copolymers)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... AtoFina is to raise its capacity for its Finaclear high styrene-content block copolymers by May 2001. The firm will invest an unspecified amount in its plant in Antwerp, Belgium, to double capacity for high styrene SBS materials, to 40 ktpa in...

West to boost output at 2 European site.(West Pharmaceutical Services)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... US healthcare product firm to expand in Europe. West Pharmaceutical Services Inc. will expand at least two plants--one in France, the other in Germany--as part of a major European expansion and capital investment programme. At the same...

Latex allergy lawyer claims landmark victory.(Baxter Health Care case)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Glove maker Baxter's failure to institute glove washing procedures sooner makes it 70-percent responsible for healthcare workers' allergy problems, says Californian court. A court in California has ordered Baxter Health Care Corp. to pay...

EIU predicts rubber shortage.(Economist Intelligence Unit)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... [] London--Natural rubber prices are set to rise sharply as low prices discourage growers from replanting at a time when demand is strengthening, the Economist Intelligence Unit said in its latest forecast of industrial raw material prices. ...

Rubber e-news: ERJ newsbriefs.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... EniChem joins Elastomer-Solutions.com [] New York--EniChem SpA has joined ElastomerSolutions.com as an investor and participant, bringing to nine the number of companies that have invested in the neutral online trading community for the...

Silicone grades for co-moulding.(new liquid silicones)
September 1, 2000... Wacker-Chemie has developed a new grade of liquid silicone elastomer which is designed to develop bond strength over a period of hours and minutes. An HTV version is due by the end of 2000 The benefit of this material is that it offers easy...

Pirelli to add capacity for 10m u/y over next three years.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... HIgh performance and added-value sectors form the main elements of Pirellis strategy, and the company expects to increase its share of this fast-growing market using a radical new tyre production process. Pirelli unveiled the working...

Pocket factory is part of transition to e-Pirelli.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Pirelli is perhaps the tyre company to watch in terms of the development of an e-business strategy. Already the three key technical elements--internal processes; procurement and sales--are in place, and the company is developing new strategies...

MIRS: an overview.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Pirelli's Modular Integrated Robotised System (MIRS) represents a significant step forward in tyre manufacturing technology. MIRS represents two significant advances over conventional manufacturing systems. The first is that it eliminates...

Saiag invests in Tecno Compounds, adds R&D lab.
September 1, 2000... Italian company Gruppo Saiag aims to grow its rubber compounding activity over the next few years to supply all across Europe. Hose, cables and aluminium products make up the rest of its activities. Gruppo Saiag will invest LIt10 000...

Agents of change.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... It is not often that I get the opportunity to write about a completely new process for making tyres. Today, I have that opportunity, but in fact, I am not going to write about the production of tyres. If you want my opinion on MIRS, I will tell...