JSR Corp. (TYO:4185) has announced that it intends to establish a new investment subsidiary on Oct. 1. Named JSR Active Innovation Fund LLC, the new company will invest on a global scale into startups focused on digital technologies. The aim is to then use these technologies to further accelerate the creation of new businesses. Investment activities will start with an...
Industry
JRW Survey: Japanese Rubber Industry Cites Increasing Sense of Market Opacity for 2019
Conducting a survey over early- to mid-July, Japan Rubber Weekly asked 158 Japanese manufacturers of rubber and resin products about their business outlooks, earnings forecasts and more. The responses coming back from 107 companies indicated a deepening sense of market opacity. In addition to rising uncertainty around international situations such as the U.S.–China trade war, several domestic factors – including...
Yokohama Rubber, AIST, ADMAT Develop System for High-Yield Butadiene Production from Bioethanol
Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. (TYO:5101) has carried out joint R&D efforts with two academic partners to develop a catalyst system with the world’s highest productivity for creating butadiene from bioethanol. The company has then also been successful at using this butadiene in the synthesis of butadiene rubber. For its research here, Yokohama Rubber worked with the National Institute of Advanced...
New SRIJ President Mikihito Takenaka Looks to Tighten International Bonds
Kyoto University Professor Mikihito Takenaka recently took up the mantle of president at the Society of Rubber Science and Technology, Japan (SRIJ), an organization made up of rubber researchers and experts. Coming into the job with lofty aspirations, Takenaka plans to proactively carry out personnel exchange projects with overseas partners. The SRIJ has so far signed a memorandum of understanding...
Yokohama Rubber Receives Supplier Award from Subaru in US
Yokohama Tire Corp. (YTC), a U.S. sales subsidiary of Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. (TYO:5101), recently announced that it has received an Excellent Performance Award from Subaru Corp. (TYO:7270) U.S. subsidiary Subaru of Indiana Automotive Inc. (SIA). The award was granted to YTC for its supply of the Avid S34P tire, which the company provides as OE for the Subaru Impreza....
Toyo Tires Becomes Fourth Major Japanese Tire Company to Raise Prices in Response to Distribution Costs
Toyo Tire Corp. (TYO:5105) has announced that it will be raising prices on domestic aftermarket tire shipments from Aug. 1 onward. This comes as factors such as a labor shortage prompt a surge in distribution costs for the sector – a trend that looks set to continue going forward. The company has outlined a price hike of 3 percent to...