India’s Himadri says it will expand its carbon black capacity to meet the increasing demand from Europe amid an impending ban on Russian carbon black imports in the EU. The Kolkata-based speciality chemicals major will expand its speciality carbon black…
Continental Tires and Brabus test sporty tyre launched for APAC market
Leveraging more than a decade of partnership, Germany’s Continental Tires and vehicle maker Brabus teamed up recently to test the limits of the newly-launched, made-for-APAC (Asia-Pacific) sporty tyre, MaxContact MC7, at Continental’s testing facility Contidrom. Using the Brabus 750 Bodo…
Arlanxeo breaks ground on new HNBR plant in China
Synthetic rubber supplier Arlanxeo, a wholly owned subsidiary of Saudi Aramco, recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for its new Therban hydrogenated nitrile butadiene rubber (HNBR) plant in Changzhou, China. With a nameplate annual production capacity of 5,000 tonnes, the first…
Michelin breaks ground on EUR60 mn innovation centre in France
Tyre maker Michelin’s groundbreaking of the Collaborative Innovation Centre is said to mark a major milestone in this project dedicated to innovation, and the only one of its kind in Europe. Initiated in 2020 and spearheaded by five major local…
Neste concludes first processing run with pyrolysis oil from discarded tyres
In its efforts to advance chemical recycling, sustainable materials firm Neste says it has successfully conducted its first processing trial run with a new challenging raw material, liquefied discarded tyres. In the processing run, Neste produced high-quality raw material for…
Michelin and partners research nanofibrous materials
French tyre maker Michelin, the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), and the University of Strasbourg recently inaugurated the SpinLab associated research laboratory in Strasbourg, with a view to studying the electrospinning process for the optimal production of nanofibrous materials,…
Zeon/Visolis tie-up on commercialisation of bio-isoprene monomers
Japan’s Zeon Corp. has signed a memorandum of understanding with California-based Visolis Inc. to advance the commercialisation of products, including bio-isoprene monomers and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Zeon had announced its investment in Visolis through its venture capital arm Zeon…
Continental acquires mould specialist for vehicle/specialty tyres
German tyre firm Continental has acquired the mould manufacturing specialist EMT Púchov s.r.o. based in Slovakia. All shares of Continental’s long-standing supplier were transferred to Continental effective April 2, 2024. The tyre manufacturer had entered into a respective agreement with…
Sumitomo Rubber/Murata develop 3D tyre wear detection system
Japan’s Sumitomo Rubber Industries and Murata Manufacturing are jointly developing a tyre wear detection system that detects wear by capturing the tyre shape in three dimensions (3D) and feeds back the data. Demonstration will begin in 2025 at Dunlop directly…
VMI introduces foreign-detection sensor for tyre treads
Dutch machinery firm VMI is focusing on smart solutions that optimise tyre building and address the challenges the industry is facing, with new advanced vision systems, self-learning AI algorithms and self-adjusting processes contributing to improved flexibility, higher accuracy and consistency. Thus,…