Zeon Corp. (TYO:4205) has posted 146 billion yen ($1.33 billion) in sales for its elastomer materials business over the first three quarters of fiscal 2017, marking a year-on-year increase of 22 percent. The sales figures included a 29 percent increase in rubber, totaling 104.1 billion yen; a 14 percent in increase in latex, reaching 14.5 billion yen; and a 6...
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Yokohama Rubber to Use Zeon’s Solution-Polymerized Rubber in New Studless Tires
Zeon Corp. (TYO:4205) recently revealed that it is set to supply solution-polymerized rubber to Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. (TYO:5101). The rubber will be sold through ZS Elastomers Co. Ltd., and is slated to be used for a white polymer that is highly reactive with silica in Yokohama Rubber’s latest studless tire, the iceGuard 6. Due to the solution-polymerized rubber’s strong...
Zeon President Discusses Growth Strategy in Increasingly EV-Centric Market
Zeon Corp. (TYO:4205) President Kimiaki Tanaka recently spoke with Japan Rubber Weekly about how the accelerating trend toward electric vehicles (EVs) will impact his company. Tanaka said that specialty rubber, which is used in parts around automotive engines and is central to the company’s earnings, will be used less and less as the industry continues its march toward EVs. Zeon...
Zeon Opens High-Performance Materials Distributor in California
Zeon Corp. (TYO:4205) has established a new local distributor for high-performance materials in California’s Silicon Valley. The company, Zeon Specialty Materials Inc. (ZSM), moved into its offices in October and will begin operating in January. The new entity will take over North American sales operations from fellow Zeon Group company Zeon Chemicals LP, which is based in Kentucky. More specifically,...
Zeon Moves Into Full-Scale Production With New Line for Retardation Film
Zeon Corp. (TYO:4205) has begun full-scale operations at its optical film plant in Himi, Toyama Prefecture, with a new production line for LCD TV-use retardation film. The new line brings Zeon’s annual production capacity for the film up from 95 million square meters to 119 million square meters. Retardation film is a vital component in LCD TVs, as it widens...
Zeon Targets Self-Driving Vehicles With New Resin for Sensor Lenses
Zeon Corp. (TYO:4205) recently launched Zeonex T62R, a new heat-resistant cyclo-olefin polymer (COP) resin. The product is intended for use in the lenses of automotive sensing cameras, for which heat-resistant materials are in high demand, and is expected to be adopted as a replacement for glass. While sensing cameras are used in high temperature environments for long periods of time,...