The COVID-19 pandemic continues to make it difficult to secure containers for imports and exports, and Japan’s rubber industry is no exception. Further, with the potential for the issues here to not only hinder stable product supply but also drive up costs, there are a number of players in the industry voicing concern over the current state of affairs. As...
Denka Co. Ltd. (TYO:4061) has released an approximately eight-minute video documenting its project to supply diethyl malonate for use in Avigan, an antiviral drug being touted as a potential treatment for COVID-19. The video has been made available on the company’s website. The video brings to life the story of how Denka, responding to a government request, managed to get...
Inoac Corp. has made its patent-pending, strap-integrated Kake mask available for purchase online through the company’s Inoac Net Shop and its Inoac Living platform on Rakuten. Made of layered polyurethane and fabric and featuring a neck strap, the product’s single-piece design integrates a strap by which the mask can hang from the neck, obviating the need to purchase a lanyard...
Mitsui Chemicals Inc. (TYO:4183) has received a letter of gratitude from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), thanking the company for working over the past year to boost its raw material production for medical gowns, masks and so on. With COVID-19 starting to spread widely around the world last spring, there was a shortage of medical gowns. And...
Bridgestone Corp. (TYO:5108) has announced its business results forecast for the full fiscal year through December 2020, including an adjustment for anticipated decline in demand during the October–December fourth quarter due to a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The forecast calls for total sales revenue of 2.89 trillion yen ($28 billion), a 7 percent increase from the previous forecast...
Demand for rubber and resin conveyor belts remains spotty as the industry is impacted by the wide division of peaks and valleys it faces. Since the spread of COVID-19, demand for rubber and resin parts has declined for many applications, as is the case with other rubber and resin products. On the other hand, there are also applications for which...
