Japanese Yokohama Rubber (Yokohama) has recently developed a concept tyre for Maruti Suzuki India’s urban Concept Futuro-E electric vehicle (EV). Incorporating Yokohama’s fuel-efficient BluEarth brand, the concept tyre features a powerful and stylish design – it combines the large lug…
Category: Industry News
Malaysian rubber glove exports expected to surge due to virus outbreak
Malaysian Rubber Glove Manufacturers Association (MARGMA) President Dennis Low expects the country’s rubber glove exports revenue to grow even more than MARGMA’s earlier forecast of RM20.68 billion as global demand increases by 15-20%. Malaysia’s rubber glove exports will likely chart…
Coronavirus fears prompt Goodyear to suspend operations in China
Two Chinese facilities of tyre manufacturing major Goodyear Tire and Rubber (Goodyear) has suspended operations until at least Feb. 9 over concerns about the Wuhan coronavirus. According to Goodyear, it will continue “to work with the Chinese government to determine…
AVA Biochem teams-up with Michelin for biobased chemical applications
AVA Biochem AG in Switzerland has developed, patented and piloted a fully water-based process for the conversion of industrial sugars into the 100% bio-based molecule 5-HMF. This platform chemical is ideally positioned to replace petroleum-sourced chemicals in various mass-market applications,…
US “Rubber City” Akron to collect rubber workers’ stories in preservation project
The city of Akron, in US state Ohio, is asking its past and present rubber workers to tell their stories to help preserve Akron’s rich rubber history. Since the 19th century, numerous rubber companies – including the Goodyear Tire and…
Pirelli shareholder ChemChina restructuring
Italian tyre maker Pirelli says it has been notified by its largest shareholder China National Chemical Corporation Ltd. (ChemChina) that Sinochem Group Co. and ChemChina are planning for a strategic restructuring. Details of the restructuring plan and its implementation are…
Michelin/employees agree on support plan for facility closure
French tyre maker Michelin and its employees at its Roche-sur-Yon, France, truck tyre plant have signed an agreement for an employee support programme. Following 12 weeks of negotiations from October 22, 2019 to January 7, 2020, the CFDT, CFE?CGC and…
Apollo Tyres establishes new sales office in Nepal; ready to chart growth
India’s Apollo Tyres (Apollo) has just set up its first sales office, inclusive of a team of service personnel, in Kathmandu, Nepal. The opening also marks Apollo’s maiden office in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) region, outside…
Cambodian ministry claims rubber exports rose by 30% year-on-year
The Cambodian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has announced that the Kingdom exported some 282,070 tonnes of rubber in 2019, a 30% increase from 2018’s 217,500 tonnes. The commodity reeled in US$ 377 million in revenue at that point,…
Cooper Tire completes buy of Mexican jv tyre plant
Cooper Tire & Rubber Company has closed on the agreement announced Nov. 1, 2019 to increase ownership in its Mexico joint venture tyre manufacturing facility, Corporación de Occidente S. A. de C.V. (COOCSA), from 58-100%. Financial terms were not disclosed.…