Zeon Corporation, which recently announced its plan to shut down 60% of its synthetic rubber production facilities at its Tokuyama Plant from fiscal 2026 onward, has decided to restructure its portfolio, including the construction of a new cyclo-olefin polymer (COP) plant. To learn more about these plans, Japan Rubber Weekly sat down with Kazuyoshi Matsuura, director and senior corporate officer,...
Asahi Kasei reported a 13% year-on-year increase in sales to 736 billion yen ($5.01 billion), a 129% increase in operating income to 49.87 billion yen, a 151% increase in ordinary income to 53.72 billion yen, and a 256% increase in net income to 34.1 billion yen for the first quarter (April-June) of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2025. The...
Hayakawa Rubber, a manufacturer of industrial rubber products, is working a number of environmental contribution activities, including reduction of waste from the entire production process, energy-saving activities throughout the plant, reduction of paper consumption throughout the plant, reduction of noise from the entire production process, and design and development of environmentally friendly products. With regard to energy-saving activities, Hayakawa Rubber...
Sumitomo Riko is promoting business activities to realize a carbon-neutral and hydrogen society, and is developing and mass-producing anti-vibration rubber, hoses, and other products for fuel cell trucks, which are now in operation in various locations. The company is currently mass-producing products for small fuel cell trucks planned by Commercial Japan Partnership Technologies. The first is the hydrogen tank mount,...
Mitsui Chemicals and Sumitomo Seika have successfully developed the world’s first EBT latex based on Mitsui Chemicals’ EPT (ethylene-propylene rubber) and EBT (ethylene butene diene). In this collaboration, Mitsui Chemicals’ synthetic rubber technology was combined with Sumitomo Seika’s latexification technology. Sample work has already started for market exploration. Mitsui Chemicals expects EBT latex to have a wide range of applications,...
Sumitomo Rubber has unveiled its next-generation all-season tire, the Dunlop Synchro Weather. The tire is the first to feature the company’s new Active Tread technology, which changes the properties of the rubber itself in response to road conditions. With this technology, the tire has the performance of both a summer tire and a studless tire and can be used on...
