European Rubber Journal articles from September 2007

European Rubber Journal archives from September 2007

Daetwyler nearly doubles group profit in first half; * Swiss seals group reports record results* Seeks location in Mexico to boost NAFTA business.(News)(Financial report)
September 1, 2007... Byline: David Shaw The Daetwyler Group in the first half of 2007 achieved its best result ever. Net revenue increased by 17.9 percent to CHF 731.1 million ([euro]445 million). Profit nearly doubled to CHF 60.5 million. The rubber division...

Suppliers must be innovative to succeed, says ElringKlinger CEO; Seal system company boss says saving emissions is going to be critical in future auto - supplier relations.* Sales up by 15 percent to [euro]310 million in first half* World's largest supplier of seals for cylinder head gaskets * China, Brazil looking attractive for factories.(News)(Financial report)
September 1, 2007... Byline: Klaus-Dieter Florecke Automotive News Europe ElringKlinger CEO Stefan Wolf says future issues facing suppliers include cutting emissions and fuel consumption, as well as alternative powertrains and vehicle safety. The German company...

briefs.
September 1, 2007... Skellerup reports 21 percent sales growth Christchurch, New Zealand - A series of acquisitions has led Skellerup Holdings to increase sales by 21 percent in the twelve months to 30 June, 2007. Reporting its preliminary results, the company...

Gajah Tunggal expands in car, moto and tubes in Indonesia; * $170 million investment over four years* Investment will help meet offtake agreement with Michelin.(News)
September 1, 2007... Byline: David Shaw Indonesian tyre maker PT Gajah Tunggal Tbk expects to spend US$170 million to increase production of radial passenger car tyres, motorcycle tyres and innertubes between now and 2011, according to a company spokesman. ...

UK announces coordinated tyre safety campaign.(News)
September 1, 2007... TyreSafe, the UK's tyre safety organisation, is co-coordinating a national tyre safety month in October to raise awareness of the part that tyres play in road safety and avoiding crashes, particularly in the wet. The campaign will have a major...

briefs.
September 1, 2007... Yokohama Tire launches eco community website Fullerton, California - Yokohama Tire Corp. has launched an online environmental social network that offers daily green news and forums, "how to" guides for protecting the planet, and exclusive...

Michelin launches Energy Saver tyre at Frankfurt.(News)
September 1, 2007... Byline: David Shaw Michelin unveiled its Energy Saver tyre at the recent Frankfurt Motor Show The new tyre is the fourth generation of Michelin's low rolling-resistance car tyres. According to Michelin, the technology employed in the...

JK to expand double capacity for OTR; invest Eur200million; * Investment spread across three years and four plants.(News)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Byline: Simona Stankovska JK Tyre has announced it will invest a total of Rs 11 000 million ([euro]200 million) in the next three years - Rs 1200 million specifically going towards doubling capacity for off-the-road (OTR) tyres by 2010....

CARB seeks legislation on tyre pressure.(News)
September 1, 2007... CARB, the California Air Resources Board, is seeking to bring forward three proposals designed to reduce global warming potential. Two of these directly affect the tyre industry. The first of these is the SmartWay Truck Efficiency measure,...

UK politicians propose rubber-wheeled trains.(News)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... A submission to the opposition party leadership has proposed converting UK trains to rubber wheeled systems. In a document titled "Freeing Britain to Compete" a right-wing think tank called Economic Competitiveness Policy Group has...

Pirelli reports 6 percent H1growth in tyre business.(News)
September 1, 2007... Pirelli Tyres' results for the first six months ending 30 June 2007 show that the company's revenues and operating income were up by 6.6 percent and 6 percent respectively. Revenues for the six-month period rose to [euro]2151.4 million...

Two Manuli men charged in marine hose case.(News)
September 1, 2007... A federal grand jury in Fort Lauderdale, Florida has charged two individuals with participating in a conspiracy to rig bids, fix prices and allocate market shares for sales of marine hose used to transport oil, the US Department of Justice has...

Bridgestone starts making run-flats in South Africa; * Fourth plant on stream after [euro]70 million investment.(News)
September 1, 2007... Byline: David Shaw Bridgestone has started commercial production of runflat tyres for the local and international market at its factory in Brits, in South Africa's North West Province. In a press release, the company said, "Bridgestone...

Hankook ships first tyres from Hungary plant.(News)
September 1, 2007... Hankook Tire Co. Ltd. has shipped the first batch of tyres produced at its new plant in Racalmas, just six weeks after pilot production began and 14 months after ground-breaking. The first batch of 3500 Optimo K415 and K715 tyres were...

DuPont fined $4 million for price fixing scandal; * Fine in Canada adds to bill for chloroprene scandal.(Suppliers)
September 1, 2007... Byline: Simona Stankovska The Criminal Bureau of Competition (CBC) has announced that DuPont Performance Elastomers Llc (DPE) has been fined $4 million (?2.9 million) for its role in an international conspiracy to fix prices of...

USW challenges DPE over chloroprene emissions.(Suppliers)
September 1, 2007... The US-based union, United Steelworkers (USW) has warned Louisiana State Governor, Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, that she should closely monitor the emissions of chloroprene from the LaPlace, Louisiana polychloroprene plant operated by DuPont...

briefs.
September 1, 2007... Solutia lifts global prices of Crystex, Santoflex St Louis, Missouri - Solutia Inc. is raising the price for Crystex insoluble sulphur and Santoflex 6PPD antiozonant. The increase is effective from 1 Oct., 2007, or as soon as permitted by...

Glanzstoff buys tyrecord converter, Sicrem; * Rayon yarn maker adds converting capacity in Italy.(Suppliers)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Byline: David Shaw The Austrian rayon yarn-maker, Glanzstoff Group has bought the Italian fabric converter, Sicrem from the Radici Group. Sicrem, which was until 2001, part of the IVG Colbacchini group, makes dipped cord and fabrics used...

Degussa name to die in change to Evonik.(Suppliers)
September 1, 2007... The parent of Degussa AG - RAG Beteiligungs-AG - has changed its name to Evonik Industries. Degussa will now be known as "the Chemicals Business Area of Evonik Industries". Evonik said, "Previous corporate brands such as Degussa, Steag,...

Rolling into Europe - Excel on buying spree; * UK acquisitions mark new European strategy for roll cover specialist* Company to take best of European, US technology and practices.(Suppliers)
September 1, 2007... Byline: David Shaw Excel Polymers' acquisition of two UK rubber businesses over the Summer marks a new strategy for the US giant's European roll covering activities. In August and September, Excel bought Vita Calender and Chase Elastomer...

Rapra pensioners seek support from MPs; * Pensioners seek support from local MPs* Pensioners want to see proof that the company was insolvent.(Suppliers)
September 1, 2007... Byline: David Shaw Representatives of the Rapra Pensioners' Action Group (RPAG) have sought clarification from local members of Parliament about the insolvency of Rapra Technology Ltd 18 months ago. In a press release, RPAG...

briefs.
September 1, 2007... Private equity group buys MAPS North American operations Chicago, Illinois - Wynnchurch Capital, a Chicago-based private equity firm, announced it has acquired the North American operations of Metzeler Automotive Profile Systems ("MAPS")....

Zeon to help clean up Rubbertown.(Suppliers)(Zeon Chemicals L.P.)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... People who live close to the Zeon Chemicals plant in the Rubbertown district of Louisville are likely to share a $5.3 million (?3.8 million) settlement from Zeon Chemicals. Most of this money will be used to install anti-pollution measures at...

PolymerLatex to add world-scale X-NBR latex plant in Malaysia; * Responding to growth in demand for nitrile gloves.(Suppliers)
September 1, 2007... Byline: David Shaw PolymerLatex is to add capacity for carboxylated nitrile latex to meet the needs of the latex glove industry worldwide. The first phase is a small (20 ktpa) expansion to the company's existing plant in Filago, Italy....

MBT's role in allergic illness.(Suppliers)(Mercaptobenzothiazole)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Researchers at the US-based National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) have proposed a mechanism for how MBT affects the human body. MBT is a relatively small molecule, and such small molecules are generally recognised...

Kumho' to spend $54m on Korean EPDM plant.(ethylene propylene diene monomer)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Kumho Polychem has invested around $54 million ([euro]40 million) to increase capacity at its Yeosu, Korea EPDM plant to 80000 tonnes - making the company Asia's largest producer of EPDM. Kumho, which started production at the Yeosu plant...

Board shake-up at Amtel-Vredestein; * Sudhir Gupta quits to pursue other interests* Rob Oudshoorn set to return to executive board.(Suppliers)
September 1, 2007... Byline: David Shaw Sudhir Gupta, founder of Amtel-Vredestein NV has resigned his position as a director of the company and as Chairman of the supervisory board with effect from 31 August 2007. Another member of the supervisory board, Tariq...

ERJ redesign: a letter from the publisher; * New cover style* Cleaner typeface* Better integration with the web* Fully audited circulation.(News)(Editorial)
September 1, 2007... Byline: Paul Mitchell Over the years I have read numerous magazines, in particular those that keep me informed and up to-date with the latest technology available to help me in my job. European Rubber Journal is read by over 7000...

ERJ parent buys PRW, EPN magazines from Emap.(News)
September 1, 2007... Through its Plastics News title, Crain Communications Inc. has bought Plastics & Rubber Weekly (PRW) and the monthly European Plastics News (EPN) - as well as the Plastics Design & Moulding exhibition, about a dozen European-based conferences,...

Hexagon Polymers buys US compounding company; * Gold Key is specialist compounder set up in 1997* Company growing at 30 percent annually* Hexagon Polymers still aims for listing in 2008.(News)(Company overview)
September 1, 2007... Hexagon Polymers is to buy the privately-held American rubber compounding company Gold Key Processing, Ltd. Gold Key is located in Middlefield, Ohio, USA and employs approximately 160 people. Gold Key supplies rubber compounds for the...

Bridgestone holds tight to top spot for 2006; Bridgestone Corp. retained its spot as the world's largest tyre maker in 2006, just barely ahead of Michelin, behind an 11-percent spurt in sales.(News)
September 1, 2007... Byline: Bruce Davis ERJ Akron bureau A 5.6-percent shift in the value of the yen aganst the dollar during the year nearly halved Bridgestone's growth in dollar terms. The two competitors ended the year in a virtual tie, based on...

Hot 1st half gives tyre makers optimism for '07.(News)
September 1, 2007... Byline: Lisa Hockensmith ERJ Akron bureau Following a strong first half, the world's largest tyre manufacturers expect to post improved financial results for the full year 2007. The caveats, however, are possible higher raw materials...

Apollo makes a splash in Europe: Part 1 of 2; "I am going to enter the European market in style," said Neeraj Kanwar, joint managing director of Apollo Tyres at the end of a long interview. He continued, "Europe is the next continent that I would like our products to compete in. I have to get products ready for the European market.".(News)(Industry overview)
September 1, 2007... Byline: David Shaw New sales in Europe will contribute to Apollo's stated goal of doubling 2006 turnover to $2000 million by 2010, said Kanwar. But this is a conservative estimate. Internally, the goal has always been to achieve that...

Alliance aims to be global leader in OTR tyres; It is business as usual at off-road specialist, Alliance Tire. Except that the company's new shareholders will invest over $120 million to help the company upgrade, modernise, build a new factory and develop more and better tyres as part of a plan to more than double sales to around $500 million by 2012.(News)(Company overview)
September 1, 2007... Byline: David Shaw In July of this year Alliance, Israel's only tyre maker, changed hands. Yogesh Mahansaria and his father with substantial backing from Warburg-Pincus, the international financial company, bought the company for an...

Keeping the pressure up; Two significant developments from ExxonMobil Chemical will deeply affect the butyl rubber industry in the coming decade.(News)
September 1, 2007... Byline: David Shaw First is a new polymerisation system, that will allow significant cost savings at the butyl manufacturer. Second is a technology designed to reduce the weight of the innerliner in the manufacture of car tyres. ...

Lanxess invests in rubber capacity; Lanxess is developing new grades of functionalised rubber to deliver improved performance in both the tyre and non-tyre industry. In addition, the company has announced a series of capacity expansions designed both to keep pace with growing demand and to serve niche markets with specialised grades.(News)
September 1, 2007... Byline: David Shaw In butyl rubber Lanxess has said its capacity is likely to expand to around 380 kt/year by 2010.This is made up of previously announced expansions at Antwerp and Sarnia to a combined total of 265 kt/year and a further 15...

Rubber crumb is safe for use in artificial turf - Aliapur; @@Byline: David Shaw.(News)
September 1, 2007... Byline: David Shaw A report published by the French tyre recycling organisation, Aliapur, says the water draining away from artificial playing fields are "compatible with the water resource quality requirements." Furthermore, the gaseous...

Contitech opens hose assembly unit in Friedberg.
September 1, 2007... Byline: Gabriele Sanvito Solvay Solexis Spa ContiTech Techno-Chemie, headquartered in Karben, has opened a new plant in neighbouring Friedberg. At the 5000-m[sup.2], hose lines for trucks and other commercial vehicles are developed,...

Semperit reports higher H1 sales and pre-tax earnings.(News)(Financial report)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Semperit Group announced a further improvement in sales and earnings in the first half of 2007. In the six months to June 2007, consolidated sales increased by 6.9 percent, to [euro]303.6 million, while operating profit (EBIT) rose by 18.1%, to...

Excel Polymers buys Chase, Vita Calender.(News)
September 1, 2007... Byline: David Shaw EXLP Global (UK) Ltd, a UK-based subsidiary of US-based Excel Polymers, has acquired Vita-Calender, the specialised rubber processing unit of British Vita, based in Salford, UK. The acquisition, completed on 16 July,...

High fluorine fluoroelastomer for injection moulding; Solvay Solexis claims its new Tecnoflon FOR 3390 grade of fluoroelastomer delivers outstanding in-service performance due to a 70 percent fluorine content, but also can be injection moulded like fluoroelastomers with much lower fluorine content.(News)
September 1, 2007... Byline: Gabriele Sanvito Solvay Solexis Spa Born in Italy in 1969, trained as a Doctor in chemical engineering at the Politecnico di Milano, in Italy, where he got his degree in 1994. In October 1996, he joined Ausimont (today Solvay...

Elastomer shear testing in the tyre industry; Dynamic mechanical analysis is a powerful technique for finding critical parameters in a green compound or a vulcanisate.(News)
September 1, 2007... Byline: David Shaw Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) is becoming a strategic analysis method for tyre manufacturers to maintain the quality of tyre production according to Hugues Baurier, sales and marketing manager at leading sellers of...

K highlights: Part 1 of 2; More than 3000 exhibitors will showcase their companies and latest product developments at the Dusseldorf Messe site.
September 1, 2007... Preparations for K 2007, the world's No. 1 trade fair for plastics and rubber, are in full swing. From 24 to 31 October, between 10am and 6.30pm daily, the K show will occupy all the halls (1 to 17) of the Dusseldorf Trade Fair Center. K...

Oil prices reach all-time highs as NR remains stable - for now.(News)
September 1, 2007... 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...

Asian incomers want to buy European technology skills.(Column)
September 1, 2007... Byline: David Shaw I have spent the past couple of months talking to people about why they want to enter the European market. As it happens I was talking about tyres, but the product could have been anything. The main driver for...

Trelleborg to close Swedish rubber goods factory; * Plant making AVS for truck will close by end 2008* Production will transfer to Estonia* 110 jobs affected.(News)
September 1, 2007... Byline: Simona Stankovska Trelleborg AB has begun negotiations with trade unions regarding closing down its moulded component manufacturing plant in Morbylanga, Sweden and relocating it to Estonia - at a cost of SEK 30 million ([euro]3.2...

Scientists develop 'green' substitute for chewing gum.(News)
September 1, 2007... Chewing gum is sticky - and it does not degrade readily. Unfortunately, people who use the product sometimes leave it on seats, on walls and elsewhere. This leads to increased cleaning costs for our local authorities. The challenge for the...

Report identifies stars of the UK rubber industry; A report on the UK rubber industry values the total market at [pounds sterling]3160 million, down from [pounds sterling]3260 million a year ago. While the percentage change is reliable, the total figure is less so.(News)(Industry overview)
September 1, 2007... Byline: David Shaw The report takes all companies involved in the rubber industry, and then looks at sales profitability and other factors for each company, using data taken from the UK official records held at Companies House. Where the...

Apollo makes a splash in Europe: Part 2 of 2; "I am going to enter the European market in style," said Neeraj Kanwar, joint managing director of Apollo Tyres at the end of a long interview. He continued, "Europe is the next continent that I would like our products to compete in. I have to get products ready for the European market.".(News)(Industry overview)
September 1, 2007... Byline: David Shaw Truck tyres dominate in India The Indian truck tyre market is characterised by owner-drivers who operate just one or two vehicles, said Kanwar. Furthermore, there is no central organisation that represents these...

K highlights: Part 2 of 2; More than 3000 exhibitors will showcase their companies and latest product developments at the Dusseldorf Messe site.(briefs)
September 1, 2007... Maplan Hall 16 / B45 w Maplan has made major strides in recent years in the development of injection moulding equipment for O-rings and for liquid silicone rubber. In addition the company introduced last year a new automated cure system -...