European Rubber Journal articles from September 2004

European Rubber Journal archives from September 2004

RAG to sell SaarGummi profiles business; Automotive profiles operation is for sale as RAG Group focusses on energy and Degussa chemicals unit. On 1 June, RAG also raised its stake in Degussa to a controlling 51 percent, from its previous 48 percent.(News)(RAG Saarberg AG)
September 1, 2004... Byline: Liz White RAG Saarberg is selling its [euro]300-million turnover SaarGummi GmbH automotive profiles business, headquartered in Buschfeld, Germany. The planned sale of SaarGummi follows a turnaround by German diversified...

Primasil buys moulder, sets up clean room; A new clean room and the acquisition of rubber moulder Nicholson will make UK silicone processor into an integrated rubber supplier.(News)(Primasil Silicones Ltd)
September 1, 2004... Byline: Liz White UK silicone processor Primasil Silicones Ltd has bought rubber moulding firm Nicholson Ltd. It plans to use the Ross-on-Wye based firm to meet customers' need for a full-service rubber parts supplier, according to Steve...

Goodyear to add radial capacity in Colombia; Truck tyre addition to Columbian plant will serve domestic, Latin American markets.(News)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Byline: Mike McNulty ERJ Akron Bureau Goodyear plans to invest $50 million over 18 months in its Cali, Colombia, tyre plant to add radial truck tyre capacity and begin continuous, around-the-clock operations at the site. The Cali unit...

ERJ newsbriefs.(European Rubber Journal, Deutsche Oelfabrik Gesellschaft fur Chemische Erzeugnisse mbH & Co. KG. )
September 1, 2004... Bigger Q2 sales, profit for West Pharmaceutical * Lionville, Pennsylvania-Medical components manufacturer West Pharmaceutical Services Inc. reported net earnings of $7.7 million on sales of $138.1 million in the second quarter, up from the...

OBITUARIES.(Walt Rapetski, David Sherwell, Willem (Bill) Resing )(Brief Article)(Obituary)
September 1, 2004... Walt Rapetski * Walter Rapetski Sr, who helped develop key compounding and mixing equipment during a 47-year career at Farrel Corp., died June 24. He was 72. Rapetski, of Orange, Connectcut, retired in 2001 as vice president of...

Columbian introduces 'pure' elastomer filler; Nanoparticle carbon black from Columbian billed as, "the greatest advance in elastomer filler technology since silica.".(News)
September 1, 2004... Byline: Justin Boyd ERJ Akron Bureau Carbon black producer Columbian Chemicals Co. has developed a new class of ultra-high-purity carbon nanoparticles that one Columbian executive said "may be the greatest advance in elastomer filler...

ERJ newsbriefs.(European Rubber Journal, Metzeler North America)
September 1, 2004... TI Automotive gets fuel system contract * Warren, Michigan-TI Automotive is to supply the complete fuel system for a new sport-utility vehicle to be built in the US by an unspecified German automaker. The company is to supply a system...

Amtel raises production 29.5% in first half; Output by Russian tyre maker jumps, following investments, change in tyre mix.(News)(Amtel Holdings B.V.)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Byline: Liz White Russian tyre maker OOO Amtel Holding Co. raised its tyre output by 29.5 percent in the first half versus the same period of last year. Amtel had a total tyre output in the first half of 2004 of 6 674 000 units. Amtel...

Pirelli improves in first half, but still reports loss; Tyres and cables businesses have eight percent higher turnover than for last year's first half.(News)(Pirelli & C SpA)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Byline: Liz White Pirelli & C SpA's tyre operations posted the best quarterly performance in the last 10 years for the tree months to 30 June 2004, and its energy cables and systems sector doubled operating income, benefiting from "a focus...

Phoenix expects Conti to make structural changes; Conti and Phoenix sales, profits continue to rise as the merger gets closer to reality.(News)
September 1, 2004... Byline: Liz White Continental AG is confident that, by October, the European Commission will have appoved its planned purchase of German technical rubber goods maker Phoenix AG. Phoenix agrees that the EC decision is likely to be in...

Auto profiles sector.(News)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Cooper Tire & Rubber Co.'s Cooper-Standard business-which is also for sale-is considered No. 1 in the global auto profiles sector with 22 percent of the $4700-million global vehicle sealing system market. GDX has an estimated 17-percent share....

Phoenix has strong Q2.(News)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Despite its unenviable position as a takeover subject, Phoenix announced encouraging results for the first quarter, with consolidated revenues up 5.8 percent from the previous year to [euro]249.3 million, and operating EBIT for the same period...

VMI acquires A-Z's extrusion division; Acquisition of extrusion business complements hydraulic tyre-curing press technology bought last year, extending VMI's ability to offer complete tyre/rubber plants from in-house expertise.(News)
September 1, 2004... Byline: Liz White Machinery maker VMI Epe Holland BV has extended its activities by acquiring the extrusion division of A-Z Formen und Maschinen GmbH. Terms of the acquisition were not revealed. VMI's annual turnover is around...

ERJ newsbriefs.(Briefs)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Belt as good as new after 25 years * Hannover, Germany-A ContiTech belt that has been running continuously since 1978, transporting several million tonnes of lime, at Felswerke GmbH limestone works in Munchehof, in the Harz mountains, is...

DOJ continues inquiry on chemical price-fixing; Rubber chemicals sector's pricing strategies still under investigation.(News)
September 1, 2004... Byline: Bruce Davis ERJ Akron Bureau The US Department of Justice continues to investigate the rubber chemicals industry for evidence of price-fixing, after getting guilty pleas from Crompton Corp. and Bayer AG, and securing fines of $116...

ERJ newsbriefs.(European Rubber Journal)
September 1, 2004... Crompton chief: Davis-Standard 'doesn't fit' * Middlebury, Connecticut-A week after a press report that Crompton Corp. has placed Davis-Standard Corp. on a list of businesses to be fixed or sold, the chemical company's top executive, Bob...

Hutchinson leads non-tyre firms for 3rd year; Automotive suppliers dominate the non-tyre rubber-processor rankings. Some 15 of the non-tyre groups are US-based, 12 from Japan and nine from Germany. In all, 22 European firms are listed in the accompanying table.(News)
September 1, 2004... Byline: Bruce Davis ERJ Akron Bureau Currency exchange fluctuations last year played a significant role in the ranking of the world's largest non-tyre rubber product companies. As the euro and yen strengthened against the dollar, companies...

Food contact applications use FFKM; A research project by Trelleborg Sealing Systems has triggered a series of new developments in seals used in food and pharmaceutical manufacture, especially those which remain in situ during cleaning and sterilising cycles.(News)
September 1, 2004... Byline: David Shaw Seal makers are increasingly using high-tech-and high value-elastomers to deliver increased time between failures in food-processing plants. Dr Burkhard Ledig, European chemical and process industries development manager...

Butterfly seals at FDS.(News)
September 1, 2004... Research into CIP/SIP seals at Freudenberg Dichtungs- und Schwingungswerk (FDS) has led to a new range of butterfly seals from the company. Dr Ulrich Liedtke of FDS told ERJ that butterfly seals within food processing units need to be very...

Mechanical design of the seals.(News)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... At Freudenberg Dichtungs- und Schwingungswerk (FDS), numeric simulations are used to optimise the design of elastomer butterfly valve seals. They are also used to adapt existing butterfly valve seal designs to optimise principal stress,...

Berstorff reorientates to new global demand; China, India and Russia are ordering a lot of machinery, while orders from the US and Europe remain thin. Machinery makers have to respond to this changed environment by bringing their manufacturing and service operations closer to the customers.(News)
September 1, 2004... Byline: David Reed Berstorff GmbH, Germany's leading maker of rubber and plastics processing equipment, is getting to grips with the cost reductions needed in today's fast-changing global marketplace, while continuing to innovate at the...

Private equity firm acquires GDX; As other profiles firms come under the auctioneer's hammer, GenCorp finally sells its loss-making GDX Automotive business-ranked No 2 globally.(News)(GDX Automotive)
September 1, 2004... Byline: Bruce Davis ERJ Akron Bureau GenCorp Inc. has found a buyer for its struggling GDX Automotive business-a New York-based venture capital firm that specialises in turning around distressed companies. Cerberus Capital Management...

Berstorff adds equipment for compounding, profile manufacture and tyre making.(News)
September 1, 2004... Two new methods for making thermoplastic elastomers, a combined tandem extruder/wide-slot extruder for making rubber sheets, and units for making hybrid profiles are among new developments from Berstorff GmbH. The first development,...

All set for K 2004; The rubber industry will be well represented among the 2800-plus exhibitors at K 2004, the 16th international Plastics and Rubber Trade Fair, to be staged 20-27 Oct in Dusseldorf, Germany.(News)
September 1, 2004... Byline: David Shaw The rubber industry will be well represented among the 2800-plus exhibitors at K 2004, the 16th international Plastics and Rubber Trade Fair, to be staged 20-27 Oct in Dusseldorf, Germany. The following pages identify...

Materials on show at K 2004.(News)
September 1, 2004... K2004 comes at a time of significant development activity among materials suppliers in the rubber and elastomer industries as evidenced by the range of new products being unveiled at the show. Perhaps the most significant industry trend at...

Machinery on show at K2004.(News)
September 1, 2004... Machinery companies will be out in force at the K show once again. The main themes of the exhibitors at this year's event are combined processing of different materials, including silicone materials and the trend toward simpler, more modular...

Techint-Pomini.(News)
September 1, 2004... Techint-Pomini (Hall 16 B06) recommends a new arrangement for tyre industry mixing rooms. The company has recently sold one fully automated line to Continental's new tyre factory in Timisoara, Romania, and the Italian company insists that the...

Other exhibitors of interest to rubber.(News)
September 1, 2004... Ahauser Gummiwalzen Lammers: Hall 6, A49-3 produces roller coatings in many types of elastomer and also offers regrinding of rubberised rollers, recoating and repair. It will also coat glass fibre reinforced plastic sleeves and...

Gummistrasse returns to K.(News)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Gummi Strasse, Hall 6 "Rubber Street is a joint initiative of the Wirtschaftsverband der Kautschukindustrie (Association of the German Rubber Industry), the Dusseldorf trade fair and Lanxess. The feature, which will include leading...

ERJ people.(Continental Automotive Systems appointed Karl-Thomas Neumann)(Farrel Corp. appointed Alberto Shaio)(Avon Rubber PLC appointed Steve Willcox)
September 1, 2004... Conti appoints new automotive chief * Continental AG has appointed Dr Karl-Thomas Neumann to succeed Dr Wolfgang Ziebart as head of Continental Automotive Systems (CAS) division. Neumann, previously head of the Electrics and...

Oil price breaches $40 as car truck sales grow.(News)(Brief Article)
September 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 the...

Cooper sets up profiles JV in China; Chinese plant is key element in serving global OEM customers, says automotive sealing supplier.(News)(Cooper-Standard Automotive Group, Saiyang Sealing Products Co., joint venture)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Byline: Liz White Cooper-Standard Automotive is to make automotive sealing systems in China, via a joint venture it has set up with Saiyang Sealing Products Co. The new unit, Cooper Saiyang Wuhu Automotive, will operate from a plant...

Diary.(rubber industry)(Calendar)
September 1, 2004... August * PU China 2004. 31 August-2 September: Shanghai, People's Republic of China. Contact Crain Communications Ltd. Tel +44 20 7457 1400; Fax: +44 20 7457 1440. September * Filler reinforcement of rubber, conference. 14...

Looking ahead - October 2004 issue.(News)
September 1, 2004... * European Tyre Report Our annual report on the global tyre industry will report on ivestment, capacity, technology exchanges, among the world's leading tyre makers.

Profiles in profile.(Column)
September 1, 2004... Byline: David Shaw Consolidation-or rather attempted consolidation-in the automotive profiles business started in Europe and has now spread to North America. In the second half of the 1990s, we saw a series of take-overs and attempts to...

Laird buys 3rd TIM unit; UK-based group moves into thermal management products.(News)(Laird Group plc)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Byline: Liz White London-based Laird Group plc has acquired Thermagon Inc., a manufacturer of thermal interface materials (TIM), including silicone pads for use in electronic applications. The purchase price was $27.5 million, with...

Cooper-Standard sale set for third quarter; Cooper boss says that tyre supply is lagging demand and tyre production is stressed, as he reveals that Cooper-Standard Automotive sale may be close.(News)(Cooper Tire and Rubber Co.)
September 1, 2004... Byline: Liz White Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. stands by its earlier statement that the sale of the Cooper-Standard Automotive (CSA) unit, "would be finalised near the end of the third quarter," said president and chief executive officer...

New business boosts H1 results.(News)(Cooper-Standard Automotive Group)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... CSA as a business continues to do well, said Dattilo: second-quarter sales rose 17 percent to $485 million. The North American contribution was up 14 percent, largely via ramp-up of new business, adding about $50 million, and allowing...

Rubber processors caught in price-rise squeeze; Rubber processors squeezed as energy prices soar while customers resist price increases. But tyremakers are unfazed by the situation, thanks to strong demand for their products, and the raw material supply situation seems stable-for the time being.(News)
September 1, 2004... Byline: David Reed Prices of polymers, oil, steel, carbon black, additives, electricity and gas are all rising-some by as much as 40 percent-but rubber processors are finding customers are resisting any price increases for their products....

Hamster buying.(News)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Hill said "hamster buying"-buying material ahead of requirements-is also creating artificial shortages of some materials. This, he suggested "makes a bad situation more difficult." And, longer term, the raw material supply situation might...

ERJ newsbriefs.(Briefs)(European Rubber Journal)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Tyre upgrade at Fayetteville * Fayetteville, North Carolina-Goodyear will invest more than $17.7 million in its Kelly-Springfield Tire Co. plant in Fayetteville, to upgrade the facility and add larger tyres to its line. The...