With automotive production bouncing back from the lows brought by COVID-19, rubber-related auto parts too have seen a recovery in both production and shipment numbers. Looking at Japan’s automotive production figures from last year, it is apparent that production volume started to fall by double digits year-on-year in April 2020, marking a trend that then continued for some time. Following...
Rubber industry earnings reports for the fiscal year through March 2021 show a second-half recovery from nearly across-the-board first-half negative revenue and profit performance due to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic that struck early in 2020. The second-half turnaround reflected a worldwide economic recovery, powered in large part by strong performance in the Chinese and U.S. automotive industries....
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...
The Japan Construction Equipment Manufacturers Association (CEMA) recently announced its construction equipment demand forecasts for fiscal 2020 and fiscal 2021. CEMA has forecasted the total value of domestic shipments for the first half of fiscal 2020 – hit by the spread of COVID-19 – at 431.1 billion yen ($4.07 billion), down 9 percent year-on-year. This figure includes a 15 percent...
Manufacturers of industrial rubber products have seen their revenues of late driven down by rising distribution and raw material costs. The impact of this has been particularly large for rubber and plastic hoses, which require significant labor to transport due to their shape and so incur higher delivery costs than other rubber products. This has then combined with sharp cost...
More than three-quarters of Japan’s top 100 rubber companies saw their sales rise year-on-year in fiscal 2017, an independent study by Japan Rubber Weekly has found. According to the results of this study, 79 of Japan’s top 100 firms operating in the industry reported year-on-year increases to sales, up from 48 in fiscal 2016. Double-digit sales growth was posted by...
