CHINA-based Sinopec is acquiring a 25% stake in Russian petrochemicals company Sibur’s nitrile rubber plant in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, for US$100 million. The plant has a capacity of 42,500 tonnes, but the two companies plan to increase it…
Category: Investments
Tokai acquires Anvis’s AVS shares
JAPANESE company Tokai Rubber Industries (TRI) is acquiring the entire shares of Germany-based Anvis Group, a manufacturer of automotive anti-vibration systems from HIG Luxembourg Holdings Eleven (90%) and Hahn (10%). Financial details were not disclosed. Anvis is a successor company…
Yokohama to double Thailand capacity for radial tyres with second plant
YOKOHAMA Rubber Co. Ltd. is constructing a second plant in Thailand to double capacity for radial truck tyres in the country by late 2015. The second plant will be built adjacent to its existing factory in Rayong Province, which started…
Lanxess inaugurates Netherlands headquarters for EPDM rubber
GERMAN specialty chemicals company Lanxess, led by Werner Breuers, the member of the Board of Management of Lanxess AG, and Günther Weymans, head of the Lanxess Keltan Elastomers business unit, has inaugurated the new headquarters of its Keltan Elastomers business…
Nishikawa Cooper to expand production at Bremen plant
HIROSHIMA-headquartered Nishikawa Cooper (Nisco) will invest US$12.7 million in new equipment to expand production at its Bremen plant. Along with the installation that is expected to be completed by July, it is hiring 34 additional workers by 2015. The expansion,…
Thailand and Malaysia to set up rubber industry zones
THAILAND’s Deputy Agriculture Minister Yutthapong Charassathien announced during the ASEAN Rubber Day staged 10 -12 April in Phuker, Thailand and Malaysia will jointly set up rubber industry zones along common border, and create more jobs for their peoples. Under the…
Sumitomo Rubber to set up motorbike radial tyres facility in Thailand
SUMITOMO Rubber Industries, Ltd. is installing equipment for the production of motorcycle radial tyres at its Thailand plant, investing an estimated 1.4 billion yen for the facility. Currently, the company produces such tyres at its Nagoya Factory (located in Toyota,…
Yokohama Rubber puts up a new subsidiary in Mexico
YOKOHAMA Rubber Co., Ltd. has established Yokohama Tire Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V. (YTMX) in Silao, Guanajuato, Mexico in March this year. Appointed as President of the new subsidiary, effective April 1, is Gary Nash, who was formerly Vice…
Bridgestone starts production at expanded Aiken County plant
BRIDGESTONE Americas has begun serial production of passenger and light truck tyres at its expanded Aiken County tyre plant in Graniteville, South Carolina, US. A Firestone Transforce was the first tyre made during the pilot production. The US$346 million-worth expansion…
Gates Foundation on drive to find better designed condom
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is offering a US$100,000 grant to anyone who can come up with an improved, next generation condom. It said that it is looking for a design that “significantly preserves or enhances pleasure, in order…