Market Background

Japanese Production of Transmission Belts Falls Year-on-Year Amid Shifts in Automotive Sector

Japan’s domestic production of transmission belts fell 2 percent year-on-year in 2018 to end at 11,701 tons, according to statistics from the Japan Belting Manufacturers Association. General-purpose industrial products performed well for the year, with demand increasing for use in the likes of semiconductor production equipment, injection molding machines, machine tools and industrial robots. This was offset, however, by a...

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Mitsuboshi Belting Targets R&D, Increased Production in Largest Ever Plan for Capital Investment

Mitsuboshi Belting Ltd. (TYO:5192) is setting aside approximately 5.7 billion yen ($52.64 million) for capital investments in fiscal 2019, marking a 74 percent increase over fiscal 2018 to make for the company’s largest ever year of such investments. This will go toward updating and expanding the company’s production facilities, both in Japan and abroad; enriching test research facilities; and reconstructing...

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Global Supply Remains Tight for Chloroprene Rubber

The global supply–demand balance for chloroprene rubber (CR) continues to sit tight. And with no significant reversal expected in these market conditions for the time being, CR manufacturers are rushing to deal with the situation. In Japan, this has seen Tosoh Corp. (TYO:4042) recently give details on a plan to bolster its production capacity for CR, set to be achieved...

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Rubber Sheet Industry Sees Strong Demand From Major Customers But Faces High Raw Material Costs

Japanese rubber sheet manufacturers are showing largely positive business results for fiscal 2018. In addition to rubber sheets performing well in the automotive sector and the infrastructure and construction sector – which serve as the two primary sources of demand for such sheets – a healthy economy has led to activity in a wide range of other sectors too, causing...

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Toyo Tires Records 3.8% Drop in Sales for Q1 of 2019

Toyo Tire Corp. (TYO:5105) recently posted its results for the first quarter of calendar 2019, showing overall sales of 90.14 billion yen ($817.75 million) for the period. This marks a decrease of 3.8 percent from the same quarter last year. The company’s operating profit for the quarter was similarly down 4 percent year-on-year to 10.17 billion yen, with ordinary profit...

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Sagami Rubber Industries Records 5.9% Sales Increase for Fiscal 2018

Sagami Rubber Industries Co. Ltd. (TYO:5194) recently posted its business results for fiscal 2018. The company recorded sales of 6.26 billion yen ($56.62 million), up 5.9 percent year-on-year; operating profit of 1.12 billion yen, down 24.1 percent; ordinary profit of 916 million yen, down 48.3 percent; and net profit of 553 million yen, down 57.7 percent. By segment, Sagami Rubber...

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