US-headquartered automotive systems provider Cooper Standard is to acquire two US firms: Lauren Manufacturing and Lauren Plastics, subject to regulatory approvals and related parties’ consent. The two companies will allow Cooper Standard to further expand markets served by its Industrial and Specialty…
Trelleborg acquires tyre distributor in New Zealand
Swedish seal technology firm Trelleborg has, through its Trelleborg Wheel Systems business area, signed an agreement and finalised the acquisition of the New Zealand company TRS Tyre & Wheel Ltd, owned by Bapcor Group. Terms were not disclosed. The company is a…
Zeon to up capacity for HNBR in Japan; focus on high-heat HNBR portfolio
Zeon Corporation, Japan, represented by the European subsidiary Zeon Europe GmbH at the on-going German rubber exhibition DKT (2-5 July 2018) says that it’s focus is on HNBR (Hydrogenated nitrile rubbers) and other elastomers. Meanwhile, Zeon says that it will…
Arlanxeo invests in SR facilities in Brazil and France; to modernise and produce more grades
German speciality chemicals firm Arlanxeo says it is strengthening its position as the world’s leading manufacturer of synthetic rubber (SR). Over the next three years, it will invest EUR mid double-digit million to modernise its production sites in Triunfo, Brazil,…
Aditya Birla completes name change of carbon black business to Birla Carbon
India’s Aditya Birla Group, which started unifying its global carbon black business under one common umbrella known as Birla Carbon six years ago, to create an organisational structure that will attempt to cut costs and take advantage of its worldwide leadership position in the…
Bridgestone breakthrough in hybrid polymer for tyres boasts higher capabilities than NR
Japanese tyre/rubber company Bridgestone Corporation says it has successfully developed the world’s first polymer to bond rubber and resins at a molecular level. This new polymer is said to boast what Bridgestone says is “unprecedented durability with crack resistance that is…
Arlanxeo introduces HNBR with new termonomer
Synthetic elastomers maker Arlanxeo says its new terpolymer TherbanST 3107 VP, a fully hydrogenated nitrile rubber (HNBR), has an innovative termonomer never been used before with HNBR rubbers. “With the new Therban ST 3107 VP, we can now offer our…
Cooper Standard undertakes ground breaking for new rubber facility in Mexico
US-based Cooper Standard says to localise elastomer mixing capabilities and support continued growth in Mexico, it recently celebrated the groundbreaking of its new 100,000 sq-ft mixing facility in Aguascalientes, Mexico. “The opening of our new in-house mixing facility in Mexico is an important step in…
Seals for climate-friendly switching stations from Freudenberg
Sulphur hexafluoride (SF6), a gas 22,800 times more damaging to the climate than carbon dioxide, has been used as a quenching gas in electric substations. So operators and suppliers have been working on ways to use CO2 as a substitute.…
Tokai Carbon to acquire US carbon black manufacturer
Japan’s Tokai Carbon is to acquire Sid Richardson Carbon Ltd. (SRC) and its two affiliated companies, with the closing expected by early September 2018. The acquisition price of 34 billion yen will be funded by loans, said Tokai. Tokai says…






