The first half of calendar 2018 has seen robust demand for raw materials in the rubber industry. This comes on the back of recovering applications in automobiles and tires – the main sources of demand for the materials – as well as strong demand for semiconductors. Due to a rise in the cost of crude oil, prices have increased for...
Representatives from Japan and the EU met on July 17 to sign the EU–Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) – a new bilateral agreement set to come into effect by the end of next March. For Japan’s rubber industry, the EPA promises the immediate repeal of a 4.5 percent tariff currently incurred on exports of passenger car tires to the EU,...
The total number of large buildings in Japan employing seismic isolation technology reached 4,345 as of December 2016, according to a recent report from the Japan Society of Seismic Isolation (JSSI). This includes projects currently in planning, consists of 853 government buildings and 3,492 private sector buildings, and marks an increase of 160 buildings over the previous year’s total of...
Nitta Corp. (TYO:5186) President Motonobu Nitta has revealed Phase 3 of his company’s V2020 medium- to long-term management plan. Starting in fiscal 2018, Phase 3 is set to cover a three-year span ending in fiscal 2020. By this point, the plan aims to achieve annual sales of 100 billion yen ($913 million), up from 72.9 billion yen in fiscal 2017,...
Shin-Etsu Polymer Co. Ltd. (TYO:7970), a processing manufacturer of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and silicone rubber products, has reported 79.34 billion yen ($722.47 million) in sales for fiscal 2017, up 7.3 percent from a year prior. In other metrics, the year saw Shin-Etsu Polymer generate 7.21 billion yen in operating profit, up 30.7 percent; 7.27 billion yen in ordinary profit, up...
The Japan Belting Manufacturers Association recently published a 2018 demand forecast for rubber and resin belts. As part of the report, the association estimated the 2017 production volume of rubber belts at 26,694 tons, marking a 1 percent year-on-year increase and a third consecutive year below 30,000 tons. While transmission belt production stayed flat for 2017, conveyor belt production rose...
