New Year’s Top Interview: Sumitomo Rubber CEO Ikuji Ikeda 2016 will be a crucial year for Sumitomo Rubber’s new mid-term business plan. In order to achieve its goals, the company plans to stay steady on its feet and adapt to the changes in the increasingly challenging rubber market, said Ikuji Ikeda, CEO of Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd. (TYO:5110), in an...
New Year’s Top Interview: Bridgestone CEO Masaaki Tsuya The administrative framework at Bridgestone has not changed one iota since it came under a dual leadership structure in February 2012, said Masaaki Tsuya, CEO of Bridgestone Corp. (TYO:5108), in an interview with Japan Rubber Weekly. While moving forward with efforts to establish and maintain a systematic corporate ethos, they are using...
(Continued from part 1 published Dec. 23, 2015) Showa Denko K.K (TYO:4004) will continue strengthening its sales strategy for chloroprene rubber (CR) in the U.S. The company has had a joint CR production venture in the U.S. with E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (DuPont) and has led the industry in meeting user needs for discontinued DuPont grades and...
Total chloroprene rubber (CR) production remained firm through early autumn. According to Denka Co. Ltd. (TYO:4061), production was somewhat sluggish in part because of a slump in domestic automobile manufacturing volume, although business performance was robust in China. Factors elsewhere in Asia, meanwhile, included weak domestic demand in Thailand, and stabilization at low levels in Europe. Domestic CR operations at...
Domestic demand for tires is expected to amount to 118.55 million tires for 2015, 4 percent fewer than the previous year, according to the Japan Automobile Tire Manufacturers Association (JATMA). The decrease was caused by lower vehicle production volume. The forecast for 2016, meanwhile, calls for a 1 percent annual increase to 119.2 million tires. ■ Assumptions behind the demand...
The number of motor vehicles produced in Japan in October 2015 was approximately 813,000, a 0.5 percent drop over the same month of the previous year and the 16th consecutive month that the figure had fallen against the previous year, according to the Japan Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (JAMA). Passenger car production was approximately 690,000 vehicles, the first increase—albeit a slight...
