industry trends

Special Report: Prices Rise on Flood of Rubber-Related Products & Raw Materials

With raw material prices, logistics expenses, utility costs and more continuing to surge, companies are going about hiking prices on a range of rubber-related products and raw materials. Various price rises reported by Japan Rubber Weekly from January through early April – as well as the subsequent increases in all sorts of costs – are impacting not only broader society...

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Tire Manufactures With Russian Subsidiaries Look to Evacuate Locally Stationed Employees

Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs raised its risk level for Russia – including Moscow – to Level 3 on March 7, constituting a recommendation to stop travel to the country. And against this backdrop, tire manufacturers with local subsidiaries in Russia are now pursuing measures such as pulling locally stationed employees out of the country. Bridgestone is approving special temporary...

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Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine Sparks Concern Over Potential Impact on Rubber Industry

There are concerns that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could impact the business operations of tire-focused rubber companies. There are two Japanese tire manufacturers who have production bases in Russia: Bridgestone Corp. (TYO:5108) and Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. (TYO:5101). Both of these bases operate on a local-production-for-local-consumption approach, focusing on domestic Russian demand. More broadly, tires make up the bulk of...

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Japanese Tire Manufacturers Face Surging Costs Despite Results Recovery for 2021

Japan’s major tire manufacturers have now all released their business results for calendar 2021 – showing a significant recovery compared to 2020, when COVID-related production restrictions and other such factors caused business to slump significantly. For 2022, however, these companies are expecting a rough year, with projections that the surging costs of raw materials and marine freight will make for...

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Companies Look to Expand SUV Tire Lineups as Sales Battle Begins for Studless Winter Tires

The competition over studless winter tire sales has gotten properly under way for another year. Even as they acknowledge the market’s unpredictability amid the continued pandemic, each tire manufacturer here is aiming to boost sales by expanding their SUV-related product lineups, as well as by making the most of the lessons they learned from pursuing sales in the midst of...

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Bridgestone’s Hose Business Sees V-Shaped Demand Recovery Both Domestically and Abroad

Bridgestone Corp.’s (TYO:5108) hose business has shown promising trends with its first-half results for calendar 2021. With demand marking a V-shaped recovery from last year both in Japan and overseas, the company’s business here has managed year-on-year increases in both sales revenue and profit, with the former of these metrics rising by double digits. Domestically, hose demand in OE applications...

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