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Bridgestone Acquires Speedy France in Move to Expand Overseas Business

Bridgestone Corp. (TYO:5108) subsidiary Bridgestone Europe NV/SA (BSEMEA) announced on May 30, 2016, that it would acquire Speedy France SAS, a leading car retail service company. Recent years have seen a string of overseas acquisitions by Japanese rubber companies, mainly tire manufacturers. With demand unlikely to grow domestically, Japanese companies are increasingly looking to expand their overseas business through corporate...

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Asahi Kasei’s Strategy for Synthetic Rubber Operations

Amid weak movement in rubber overall, Asahi Kasei Chemicals Corp.’s (TYO:3407) solution-polymerized styrene-butadiene rubber (S–SBR) business has found relatively robust performance in its specialty area of high-performance products. The company has felt some impact with a portion of its product lines due to the economic downturn in China, a large consumption market. However, demand in Asia on the whole has...

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Dunlop Home Products Reports Strong Sales for Mobile Wheelchair Slope

Dunlop Home Products Co. Ltd., an affiliate of Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd. (TYO:5110), is developing a market for healthcare products such as water-filled cushions and a wheelchair ramp designed for portability. The Dunslope portable wheelchair ramp was developed as an assistive device enabling wheelchairs to move over steps and other uneven areas. Readily portable, it enables wheelchair users to create...

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Inoac Makes Serious Entry to Nursing Care Market with Polyurethane Foam Products

Inoac Corp., a major manufacturer of polyurethane foam products, is making a serious entry into the welfare and nursing care market with its leading product, mattresses made with polyurethane foam – along with cushions, low-floor soft beds and other goods. An affiliated company, Inoac Living Co. Ltd., is handling sales. Inoac’s mattresses are distinguishable by their superior performance. The company utilizes...

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Zeon Hit by Sluggish Specialty Rubber Markets in Asia

Zeon Corp. (TYO:4205), a major manufacturer of specialty synthetic rubber, has reported that net sales for the company’s elastomer materials business declined by 5 percent year on year to 178.9 billion yen ($1.61 billion) for the fiscal year ending March 2016. Meanwhile, operating profit for the segment climbed 23 percent to 20.7 billion yen. Sales volume for synthetic rubber rose...

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Hakko Develops Super-flexible Conductive Fluorine Hose

Hakko Corp. has developed a product line of super-flexible electrically conductive fluorine hoses in response to the need to convey flammable fluids without generating static electricity. Until recently, the Japanese standard for preventing static electricity buildup required measurements of interterminal electrical resistance, including that of joints. But resistance measurements were only required for one meter of a given length of...

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