JAPANESE company Kobe Steel’s joint venture with India’s Larsen & Toubro has started up production of rubber processing machinery in India. Called L&T Kobelco Machinery, the joint venture manufactures rubber mixers and twin-screw rollerhead extruders used in making tyres. The…
Category: Investments
Sibur opts out of tyre business
PETROCHEMICAL firm Sibur has completed the sale of 100% of Sibur-Russian Tyres (SRT) to a group of investors including the management of SRT and Vadim Gurinov, former CEO of Russia’s largest tyre manufacturer. The disposal follows the restructuring of SRT…
Tie-up for automotive solutions
SWEDISH company Trelleborg and Freudenberg have formed a 50:50 joint venture to produce antivibration solutions for light and heavy vehicles. The new joint venture will comprise Trelleborg Automotive’s operations in anti-vibration solutions and Freudenberg’s corresponding unit known as Vibracoustic. At…
Cooper seals business deal
US-based supplier of systems and components for the automotive industry Cooper Standard has acquired the automotive sealing business of Italian supplier Sigit, which operates in Italy and Poland. Sigit sealing has supplied the automotive industry since 1966 and currently supplies…
Deals pave the way for asphalt market in China
US firm Guggenheim Global Infrastructure (GGI) has acquired a majority stake in China-based asphalt rubber (AR) specialist King Tech International (KTI). GGI says the buy is a strategic fit since China has an ongoing need to expand its road network.…
Asahi en route to second SSBR plant
ANOTHER Japanese supplier Asahi Kasei Chemicals will construct a second plant in Singapore to produce solution-polymerised styrene-butadiene rubber (S-SBR), with capacity of 50,000 tonnes/year. The new plant will be located adjacent to an S-SBR plant of the same capacity which…
Weir reaches out to India
UK-based Weir Group, which has interests in mining and engineering services in India, has invested INR60 crore to set up a 200 tonne/year-rubber facility in Bangalore to serve the requirements of the domestic mining industry. The new facility has precision…
Resin supplier eyes Western markets
SINO Legend (Zhangjiagang) Chemical, the largest Asian manufacturer of resins for the tyre and rubber markets, plans to expand into the US and European markets, with possibility of setting up facilities there. Red Avenue Chemical is serving as Sino Legend’s…
MHI subsidiary to focus on rubber machines
MITSUBISHI Heavy Industries (MHI) will establish a new subsidiary to handle the industrial machinery business, including material handling systems and rubber and tyre machinery, effective April 2012. The new company, to be wholly-owned by MHI, will be created by integrating…
Joint venture silica plant started up
WACKER Chemie and Dow Corning have inaugurated the second phase of their joint pyrogenic silica plant in Zhangjiagang, China. The pyrogenic silica plant, together with a siloxane plant, is a key facility of the Dow Corning-Wacker integrated silicone manufacturing site…