Japan’s largest manufacturer of synthetic rubber, JSR Corp. (TYO:4185), is doing well with its solution styrene butadiene rubber (S–SBR) for fuel-efficient tires. The company has increased sales of S–SBR for eco tires by just short of 120 percent over that of the previous term. Such sales expansion has been a point of focus for the company, coming amid a dip...
Synthetic rubber production volume in Japan dropped to 102,196 tons for March, down about 12 percent compared with the same period last year, according to the Synthetic Rubber Industry Association of Japan. The total production volume between January and March was 388,573 tons, a 4 percent year-on-year decline. Meanwhile, the production volume of styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) for March plummeted to...
Factors such as automobile tire production and carbon black imports have a major impact on Japan’s carbon black industry. Last year saw a decrease in import volume from China due to the weak yen, but the stronger yen expected for this year is causing fears of a slight increase in imports, mainly from China. Japan Rubber Weekly got an inside...
Chemical manufacturer Tosoh Corp. (TYO:4042) saw a slight year-on-year decline through March of this year on the sales volume of its chloroprene rubber (CR) business. On the back of a weak Japanese yen, the company had hoped domestically to see a rebound in the number of produced automobiles. However, such numbers remained stagnant from the previous term. CR is used...
Toyo Tire & Rubber Co. Ltd. (TYO:5105) has made the voluntary declaration that it is on board with, and will be party to, objectives of the Sustainable Natural Rubber Initiative (SNR-i). Proposed and launched by the International Rubber Study Group (IRSG), the initiative serves to ensure the sustainability of natural rubber (NR). It seeks to achieve an NR economy in...
A research team at Tokyo City University has succeeded in developing a new seismic isolation rubber for use in new buildings that could have roughly twice the earthquake mitigation performance of structures using conventional materials. Led by Prof. Isao Nishimura of the architectural faculty in the university’s engineering department, the team is moving ahead on joint development with a manufacturer,...
