In January 2016, the shipment value of rubber products in Japan fell by 6 percent to 160 billion yen ($1.41 billion), the seventh consecutive month of year-on-year decreases, according to Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). Automobile tire production was down 67 percent to 10.72 million tires, the 14th consecutive month of year-on-year decreases. Meanwhile, the value of...
Japan’s import volume of natural rubber for January 2016 increased by 1 percent year-on-year to more than 58,000 tons, rising for the first time in five months, according to the Rubber Trade Association of Japan. However, the import value plunged by 18 percent to 9.26 billion yen ($81.7 million), declining for the fifth month in a row. The average import...
Hiroshima Kasei Ltd. is moving ahead with the construction of a factory to make vehicle seals in Bandung, Indonesia. The decision is in response to Japanese vehicle manufacturers operating plants outside Japan. The venture in Indonesia will be the first time the company will directly manufacture vehicle seals outside Japan. The company has until now indirectly supplied vehicle manufacturing plants...
Employers in the rubber industry are increasingly expanding business operations and beefing up production by increasing their workforces, according to a spring 2016 hiring status survey of 31 major rubber industry companies. The survey by Japan Rubber Weekly also indicated that the number of firms increasing the number of new hires this year compared to the previous year has grown...
Kinugawa Rubber Industrial Co. Ltd. (TYO:5196) will accept a takeover bid (TOB) from the Development Bank of Japan, Inc. (DBJ). For this deal, the DBJ has concluded separate agreements with Kinugawa Rubber Industrial’s largest shareholder, Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. (TYO:7201; stake of 20.25 percent), and second largest shareholder, Toyo Tire & Rubber Co. Ltd. (TYO:5105; stake of 11.89 percent), to...
Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. (TYO:5101) has a policy with its conveyor belt business to focus on the steel sector in Japan while focusing on resource development sectors in overseas markets. In the last few years, the company has been actively developing new conveyor belt products, including the popular High-Heat Resistant MJ Fabric Belt that it developed last year. The use...
