India’s Birla Carbon has announced expansions in multiple regions to support customers in the growing carbon black market. It will undertake significant debottlenecking at its factories in Egypt and Italy before the end of Q3 2018; restart a production line in…
Category: Industry News
Kuraray, PTT, and Sumitomo launch jv company in Thailand
Japanese chemical maker Kuraray Co, Thailand-based PTT Global Chemical Public Company and compatriot Japanese chemical company Sumitomo Corporation recently held an opening ceremony for a joint venture company, Kuraray GC Advanced Materials Co, set up to operate in Thailand. Kuraray…
Kumho to up capacity of butadiene latex in South Korea
South Korea’s Kumho Petrochemical says that it has started the expansion for acrylonitrile butadiene latex (NB latex) at its facility in Ulsan, South Korea, from 400,000 tonnes to 550,000 tonnes/year. With this expansion, Kumho says it will further consolidate its…
Sumitomo/Dunlop Tech open technical centre in Germany
Sumitomo Rubber Europe and Dunlop Tech have officially opened a technical centre, after a year of construction. The 30,000 sq m building in Hanau-Steinheim, Germany, houses facilities for tyre development and testing, production of liquid latex and tyre pressure monitoring system design.…
AB completes expansion of R&D site
US-based speciality silicone maker AB Specialty Silicones says it has completed a significant renovation and expansion of its R&D and QA location tripling the area. Additional laboratory facilities and equipment have increased technical capabilities for product analysis and performance matching…
Michelin buying Camso for US$1.4 bn; to bolster speciality business
French tyre maker Michelin says it is buying Canadian firm Camso for US$1.45 billion to generate US$55 million of cost savings and increased sales by 2021. Camso, which averages net sales of US$1 billion, designs and manufactures off-the-road (OTR) material…
Sempertrans launches facility in the US
Sempertrans, which is part of the Austrian rubber/plastic company Semperit, recently celebrated the official opening of its new Atlanta location together with distributors and end-customers. While the Sempertrans USA team moved into the new location in Georgia in December 2017,…
New mining tyres from Michelin for extreme conditions
Michelin North America says it is launching its most aggressive answer for underground mining (UGM) tyres, specifically made for loaders and transport machines operating in extreme conditions. Available immediately, the X Mine D2 Pro and the XSM D2+ Pro Line are designed with…
Sinopec’s China SBR plant uses Topsoe CATOX catalyst for emission control
Denmark-based Haldor Topsoe has delivered the catalyst charge for a new regenerative catalytic oxidizer at the Sinopec Qilu styrene-butadiene rubber plant in Zibo – the biggest rubber producer in China and part of Sinopec Group, the world’s largest oil refining,…
Continental buys Czech machine tool manufacturer
Tyre company Continental has taken over the Czech machine tool manufacturer VÚK. The acquisition of VÚK strengthens Continental’s presence in the city of Otrokovice, Czech Republic, which is also the home to Continental’s largest tyre plant worldwide with 4,500 employees.…