The domestic revenue for the conveyor belt business of Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. (TYO:5101) moved almost sideways last year from the prior year. Meanwhile, the global sales for the segment fell, pushed down by a decline in global commodity prices. Although the segment’s domestic sales volume slightly increased, the profit was squeezed by price competition. While the demand for steelmakers,...
The period since the 1960s has seen a spurt of overseas expansion from Japanese companies involved in the rubber industry. This expansion has followed through from moving into Korea and Southeast Asia, centering on Taiwan, in the 1970s to North America in the 1980s and, since 2000, through into China and the ASEAN region. Recently, momentum has been gaining also...
Mitsutaka Yoshii, president of Kobe-based Bando Chemical Industries Ltd. (TYO:5195), presided over a ceremony on April 14 to commemorate the 110th anniversary of the business’s foundation, where he and around 200 people including executives, managers and other employees were in attendance for the special occasion. The ceremony was broadcast live to 23 locations in nine countries. Yoshii kicked off the...
The Japan Automobile Tyre Manufacturers Association (JATMA) has revamped its membership system, introducing a new associate membership system as of April 1, 2016. On the same date, two companies — Nihon Michelin Tire Co. Ltd. and Nippon Goodyear Ltd. — were registered as associate members. The establishment of this new membership system reflects the fact that tires are a global...
A magnitude-6.4 earthquake struck at 9.26 p.m. Japan Standard Time on April 14, with its epicenter near the city of Kumamoto in Kumamoto Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan. At Bridgestone Corp.’s (TYO:5108) Kumamoto Plant in Tamana City, Kumamoto Prefecture, the earthquake was recorded on the Japan Meteorological Agency’s seismic intensity scale as 6-lower, and the plant ceased operations immediately after the earthquake struck....
Amidst an economic slowdown in the Chinese market, tire sales for Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. (TYO:5101) have risen by double digits over the previous year. The chief secretariat and director of the company’s business planning division, Hiroaki Shioiri, recently discussed business conditions surrounding passenger car tires in China – as well as the outlook moving forward. Showing Double-digit Growth China’s...
