Synthetic rubber manufacturer Zeon Corp. (TYO:4205) has posted increasing profits on falling revenues for its rubber business over the April–December period for fiscal 2017. The company’s sales volume over the period declined 5 percent year-on-year, sitting at 224,000 tons. General-purpose rubber for tires declined 10 percent domestically on account of a lowered utilization rate among tire manufacturers. Coupled with overseas...
Materials
Shin-Etsu Polymer India Establishes Delhi Branch
Shin-Etsu Polymer India Pvt. Ltd., the Indian subsidiary of Shin-Etsu Polymer Co. Ltd. (TYO:7970), has recently opened a branch in the greater Delhi area. The new arm, headed by I. Balasubramanion, commenced operations as Shin-Etsu Polymer India Delhi Branch on Feb. 1. Shin-Etsu Polymer India was established in October 2007 in the city of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, as a...
Sumitomo Riko to Invest in US If NAFTA Collapses: CEO Nishimura
Sumitomo Riko Co. Ltd. (TYO:5191) will need to boost production in the U.S. if renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) following President Trump’s inauguration results in high tariffs, said Chairman and CEO Yoshiaki Nishimura. Speaking at a recent media gathering, Nishimura stated that the company will monitor developments involving NAFTA, tailoring investment and employment plans accordingly and...
Dow Japan Donates LED Street Lights to Schools in Fukushima
Dow Chemical Japan Ltd., the Japanese subsidiary of U.S. chemical company The Dow Chemical Co., on Jan. 18 donated four solar-powered LED street lights to the city of Soma in Fukushima Prefecture. Two of the donated lights were installed at Nakamura Dai-ichi Elementary School and two were installed at Nakamura Dai-ni Elementary School in Soma. Peter Jennings, president of Dow...
Zeon to Build New Hydrogenation Facility for Low-VOC Petroleum Resin
Zeon Corp. (TYO:4205) will build a new facility for hydrogenation of Quintone petroleum resin with proprietary technology at its Mizushima Plant, Okayama Prefecture. Construction is set to commence this month, with operations scheduled for July. The company is making a capital investment of 1.2 billion yen ($10.46 million) into the plant, which has an annual Quintone production capacity of 40,000...
Kuraray to Raise Prices of Hydrogenated Styrene Elastomers Worldwide
Kuraray Co. Ltd. (TYO:3405) has announced that it will raise the prices of its TU-Polymer and hydrogenated styrene elastomers Septon and Hybrar by 25 cents per kilogram worldwide effective for shipments from Feb. 1, 2017. Regarding this price increase, Kuraray said that market conditions for major raw materials continue to rise dramatically and manufacturing costs – including utility costs –...