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,…
Category: Investments
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…
Trelleborg opens new automotive boots facility in China
TRELLEBORG has opened its new 2,500 sqm manufacturing facility early March in Wuxi, China that will manufacture high-performance automotive halfshaft and steering systems boots. This new facility , which is expandable to a further 800 sqm, is an addition to…
Rhein Chemie posts growth in 2012, expands tyre industry portfolio
RHEIN Chemie, a wholly owned subsidiary of speciality chemicals company Lanxess, grew its global sales in fiscal 2012 to EUR344 million, a slight increase over the previous year’s EUR332 million. In 2012, the group generated sales of EUR9.1 billion and…
Synthomer and DKSH form distribution partnership in Asia
EMULSION polymers supplier Synthomer and chemical distributor DKSH Business Unit Performance Materials have entered into a regional distribution partnership covering India, the Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand. The contract , which covers Synthomer’s Construction & Coatings and Functional…
Versalis and Pirelli form joint research on guayule-based rubber tyre
VERSALIS (Eni) and Pirelli have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for a joint research project for the use of guayule-based natural rubber in tyre production. The research project will span a period of three years. On an exclusivity…