The global rubber transmission belt market size is expected to reach US$4.41 billion by 2025, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3% from 2017-2025. The market has been experiencing an uptake in demand due to infrastructure development, concentrated…
Jolt Capital leads EUR15 mn financing in 4JET to continue growth
Paris-based private equity firm Jolt Capital has pumped in EUR15 million into Germany-based 4JET GmbH, joining shareholders e-Capital, a Münster-based alternative investment fund manager, and CEO/Founder Jörg Jetter to further scale up the company. 4JET, through its subsidiaries 4JET Technologies…
Tyres being lifted from the seabed in France after releasing toxins
Teams of divers are in the process of extracting an artificial reef made of tens of thousands of old car tyres from the seafloor south of France, after it was discovered to pollute the area with toxic chemicals. The operation…
Vietnam’s rubber sector hit by US/China trade war; eyes India for exports
With the escalation of the US/China trade war, the Asian region has fallen victim to the spat. Vietnam’s rubber sector has been affected since China is the largest importer of Vietnamese rubber, for its tyre manufacturing sector. The US government…
Yokohama Rubber’s tech evaluates water absorption on winter tyres
Yokohama Rubber in a joint research project with the Tribology Laboratory headed by Associate Professor Iwai of the College of Science and Engineering at Kanazawa University, has developed an evaluation technology that visualises rubber’s frictional state of contact on an…
Apollo Vredestein to supply OE tyres for VW Touareg
Apollo Vredestein has received another endorsement with the recent decision by German car maker Volkswagen to start fitting the Volkswagen Touareg with two 18 inch premium products from Vredestein. Both the Quatrac 5 (all-season tyre) and the Ultrac Satin (summer…
Yokohama Tire opens tech centre in the US
Japanese firm Yokohama Tire Corp. (YTC) has officially opened its new tyre R&D facility – the Yokohama Development Centre America (YDCA) – in Cornelius, North Carolina. The 25,000-sq-ft building in Mecklenburg County, replaces the temporary R&D office Yokohama had utilised…
Hexpol acquires majority share in Italian compounder
Swedish polymers firm Hexpol has acquired 80% shares in Mesgo Group from the existing main owner Francesco Caldara and co-owners for EUR168 million. Mesgo is an industry leader in high performance elastomers as fluorocarbons and silicone. In addition, Mesgo also…
Cabot acquires Chinese carbon black maker; to spend US$50 mn on facility upgrade
Speciality chemicals company Cabot has acquired NSCC Carbon (Jiangsu) Co. from Nippon Steel Carbon Co., a subsidiary of Nippon Steel Chemical & Material Co. The carbon black manufacturing facility in Pizhou, Jiangsu Province, China, with a capacity of 50,000 tonnes/year,…
China’s General Science opts for Thailand for tyre plant
Chinese tyre maker Jiangsu General Science Technology Co. Ltd. is looking elsewhere for a plant in Southeast Asia and has decided to locate its planned US$300 million tyre plant in Thailand instead of Cambodia. The reason the firm said was that…






