Sumitomo Rubber (TYO:5110) plans to use its Ultra Pure Natural Rubber (UPNR) in truck and bus (TB) tires for the first time with the ENASAVE SP688 Ace, an all-season TB tire product line featuring improved fuel efficiency. A successive sales launch of size-13 ENASAVE tires is set to begin in March.
Sumitomo Riko’s (TYO:5191) results for the first nine months of the fiscal year ending March 2016 show sales of 316.4 billion yen ($2.7 billion), up 8 percent. Operating profit increased 75 percent to 8.7 billion yen, while net profit was 1 billion yen against a loss of 323 million yen in the same period of the previous year.
JSR Corp. (TYO:4185) announced its financial results for the first three quarters of the fiscal year ending March 2016 (April–December 2015). Net sales were down 4 percent to 294.5 billion yen ($2.52 billion), operating income down 3 percent to 29.5 billion yen and net income down 14 percent to 19.8 billion yen.
In 2015, the JRMA established a committee to study the impact that a current IRSG project aimed at sustainable development in the rubber industry is likely to have on its members. Now, the JRMA believes that in addition to liaising with the IRSG, the committee can deal in a wide range of areas covering raw materials as a whole.
As the domestic rubber market shrinks, Japan’s rubber manufacturers must step up their global operations, JRMA Chairman and Yokohama Rubber CEO Tadanobu Nagumo said in an interview with Japan Rubber Weekly. He is touting technological innovation and environmental responsiveness as key concepts for the industry, saying that without excelling in these areas, globalization will be prohibitively difficult.
The Japanese Rubber Workers Union Confederation has finalized its official spring 2016 policy to improve the living standards of its membership. The committee approved demands focusing on wages, lump-sum payments, measures to combat excessive work and other issues. With regard to improving wages, the union decided to demand a raise of around 2 percent.
