Rubber Journal Asia Industry News
SI to ramp up capacity in China
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S chemicals maker, SI Group will construct an additional 30,000 tonnes/year facility for its phenolic resin manufacturing site at the Nanjing Chemical Industry Park in China. Valued at US$30 million, the facility will have a potential capacity of 70,000 tonnes/year. It is set to commence in 2013 and will produce phenolic resins in lump, pastille, liquid and powder forms to serve the rubber, abrasive, friction, impregnation and refractory markets. Prior to this expansion plan, the company opened its US$1.5 million rubber and industrial phenolic resin application laboratory at its Songjiang plant in Shanghai.
Asia Carbon reports healthy revenue
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hina-based Asia Carbon Industries’s sales increased by 65% to reach US$49.12 million in 2011, with about 86% of sales attributed to the increases in tonnage sold, whereas the remaining was attributed to the increase of the unit sales price. The average sales price of Asia Carbon’s products was US$988/ tonne during 2011, up by 11% from US$894/tonne in 2010. In terms of production and utilisation rates, the company produced 35,000 tonnes and 61,000 tonnes
and utilised 92% and 78% of total capacity in 2010 and 2011, respectively. It sold 49,683 tonnes of carbon black and naphthalene oil, an increase of 50% compared to 2010. The company registered a net income of US$7.31 million in 2011, up by 123% compared to the previous year’s US$3.27 million. This increase in net income resulted from new production capacity and improved gross margin rate.
for nearly one-third of global rubber demand in 2010, will record the strongest gains of any major market through 2015. The large amount of motorcycle and bicycle production in the country supports significant demand for rubber utilised in nonmotor vehicle tyres. The rubber markets in the US and Western Europe will rebound somewhat from the sales declines recorded from 2005-2010.
Rubber consumption high by 2015
China sets up NdBR project and hits high on carbon black
ccording to research firm Freedonia Group, global rubber consumption is forecast to rise 4.3% per year through 2015 to 30.5 million tonnes. The global automotive market will drive global demand for rubber utilised in tyres because replacement motor vehicle tyres represent the largest market for rubber. The significant increase in the number of vehicle use will boost the amount of rubber consumed worldwide. In addition, a pick-up in global manufacturing activity through 2015 will spur rubber demand in non-tyre applications. Asia Pacific region is the largest regional market for rubber, accounting for 60% of global demand in 2010 and will register the fastest growth in rubber consumption through 2015. The massive Chinese rubber market, which alone accounted
o support the development and production of neodymium-catalysed butadiene rubber (NdBR), China has initiated a four-year project to study the chemistry, engineering and practicality of a pilotscale reactor. The project involves the nation’s top research institutions and universities such as Xinjiang Science and Technology Agency, Karamay Petrochemical, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun Institute of the National Science and Technology, and Xinjiang University. Meanwhile, since 2006, China’s carbon black production has surpassed that of the US and has increased at an average rate of 10% annually since then, reaching 3.4 million tonnes in 2010. The country’s capacity is 5 million tonnes/year with average capacity utilisation of only 70% during 2010, according to an industry report from
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Chinese research firm CCM. With the passenger car sales in China rising by nearly 33% in 2010, domestic demand for tyres and therefore, also for carbon black, has been booming. However, the growth of China’s tyre manufacturing sector has been slightly hampered by the imposition of anti-dumping duties on passenger car tyres imported from China into the US from early 2010. Nevertheless, exports in 2011 are expected to double the 2010 level.
Freudenberg registers high sales
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amily-owned German firm Freudenberg Group reported aboveaverage, profitable growth in almost all sectors, with sales value reaching EUR6 billion in 2011, an increase of 9.6% from EUR5.48 billion in 2010. Profit amounted to EUR505 million, higher than the previous year’s EUR431 million. According to the group, much of its success had to do with its ability to cope with the substantial increases in the price of materials and compensate for weak economic conditions in the Mediterranean countries. To continue business growth, Freudenberg will invest on product innovations and plant expansions. To date, the company has set up new facilities in the US and Russia and about 26% of the company’s product innovations are less than four years old.
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Rubber Journal Asia Rubber chemicals see elastic demand
and mechanical stress, is projected to grow 4.7% a year through 2015 to 810,000 tonnes, with demand fuelled by both expansion in tyre and industrial rubber products as well as continuing efforts to improve performance and lengthen service lives of rubber goods. One factor that will counter increasing antidegradant usage is the faster growth in demand for natural rubber versus synthetic rubber since the former has natural antioxidative properties and requires less antioxidant loadings to achieve similar properties. Accelerator demand will exceed 415,000 tonnes in 2015. These chemicals, which control the vulcanisation process, are required in
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Bridgestone is upping capacity for its golf balls in the US
More golf balls in the US
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o meet the demand for its premium golf balls in the US, Bridgestone Golf will increase output at its Georgia facility by 40% this year. The firm will manufacture its popular Tour B330-RX family of PUcovered golf balls in Georgia, beginning in mid-2012. The production increase will necessitate the hiring of 20 additional full-time workers.
lobal demand for rubber processing chemicals is forecast to increase 4.7% a year through 2015 to 1.35 million tonnes. Gains will be driven by continuing robust gains in the Asia Pacific region (especially China) and recovery in demand in the US, Western Europe and Japan following declines in these three areas in the 2000s. Rubber chemical demand in China is projected to grow 8.1% year through 2015 to around 580,000 tonnes. Demand for antidegradants, which improve rubber’s resistance to the effects of oxidation, ozone, heat, sunlight
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all vulcanised rubber products. However, accelerator demand will outpace rubber consumption due to the above-average gains forecast for secondary or ultra-accelerators. These chemicals, which are used with EPDM and latex compounds, offer rapid cure rates and are believed to be less toxic than primary accelerators. Demand for other processing chemicals, including processing aids, adhesion promoters and blowing agents, among numerous others, will reach 130,000 tonnes in 2015. Processing aids, used to improve plasticity and moulding properties of rubber, are expected to see high growth due to the increased usage of natural rubber.
Rubber Journal Asia Industry News
Kotagala to plant rubber in Cambodia
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ri Lankan plantation firm Kotagala Plantations will plant 20,000 ha of rubber in Cambodia. Valued at US$70 million, the project aims to address the inadequate local production and rising costs of rubber in Sri Lanka. The plantation will be managed by Lankem Tea & Rubber Plantations, which is part of the Lankem group. Kotagala has 12 tea and 11 rubber plantations in Sri Lanka as well as eight rubber manufacturing units, pr o d u c i n g pale crepe and sole crepe.
Weather deflates global rubber output
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nfavourable weather conditions have lowered this year’s global output of natural rubber, according to the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC). The association’s earlier forecast was 2.6% but has been revised to 1.1% or 10.42 million tonnes. In Malaysia, unseasonal rains for almost a month from mid-February onwards have disrupted harvesting of trees. In China, more rainy and
cloudy days during March put trees vulnerable to powdery mildew disease. Sluggish demand from top consumer China also contributed to the revision in the supply outlook for this year, said the ANRPC, adding that supply in the first quarter was forecast to fall 5.1% compared with the same period last year. It said that the slow export demand from China is partly due to an on-going shift of light manufacturing to countries with lower wages. But the slowdown could be partially offset by an increase in domestic consumption in countries such as Thailand, Indonesia, India and Vietnam.
and possibly accelerate consolidation of the industry. The association is also developing standards for radial tyre technology. The first draft standard has been distributed to members. It is designed to reduce the possibility of further scandals in the industry, similar to the Kumho Tyre issue over the use of recycled materials in tyres in 2011.
Trelleborg divests diving suit business
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n line with its strategy to divest non-aligned operations, Swedish firm Trelleborg has sold its Sweden and Lithuaniabased protective product business to US firm Ansell for SEK210 million. The firm says its core competencies in the business are material development and production of polymer-coated fabrics for protective and diving suits. The business had sales of SEK170 million in 2011.
China moves to green tyre and radial standards
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he China Rubber Association’s “green” tyre programme requires half of the nation’s tyre makers to produce fuel-efficient tyres and for 25% of car tyre production to be using “green” tyres by the end of the five-year plan. The plan will be based on the standards found in the South Korean and European Union (EU)’s tyre labelling rules and categories. It will comprise voluntary and mandatory schemes with limits and categories defined in the EU legislation and include provision of subsidies to selected tyre makers to upgrade their technology
for EUR110 million to domestic insurance group Covea. Michelin will earn a capital gain of nearly EUR100 million from the sale. In another part of the globe, Michelin has signed an MOU with Serbian authorities and the city of Pirot, for the expansion of its Tigar facility that will produce 12 million tyres/year by 2016. It will involve an investment of EUR170 million over the next four years. In the US, Michelin is building an Earthmover off-the-road radial tyre plant on its current site in South Carolina. Construction will commence in late 2013. The current site produces semi-finished products and rubber compounds for the group’s US plants. The firm will also expand its Earthmover tyre facility in Lexington, South Carolina. The two projects are valued at US$750 million and will create 500 new jobs. The market for Earthmover tyres grew by more than 20% between 2009 and 2011 and the firm says the new facilities will help it attain its objectives for 2015.
Tyre News
Michelin sells Paris hq, builds plants in US and Serbia
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fter consolidating its Paris-based staff operations to a new site in BoulogneBillancourt, French tyre maker Michelin has sold the 12,000 sq m property
Seen here are Michelin US’s President Pete Selleck with South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and US Senator Lindsey Graham at the tyre maker’s US facility
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Rubber Journal Asia Tyre firms expand in China
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erman tyre firm Continental has broken ground on a US$215 million expansion of its car tyre plant in Hefei that will double the plant’s capacity by 2015. It will raise production to 16 million units/year of premium tyres – ContiComfortContact 5 and ContiMaxContact 5 – for the Chinese market. According to the company, Asia is a key growth market and its additional investment in Hefei is a major step in this direction. Another tyre maker looking at the Chinese market with interest is Japanese firm Bridgestone that is setting up a US$20 million facility in Guangdong to manufacture, process and sell foamed rubber, urethane and precision electronic components. Construction will commence in 2013.
Continental’s ground breaking of its tyre plant in China
Technology News
Maplan continues strategic growth plan
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apitalising on its plastics manufacturing expertise, Austrian machinery firm Maplan will develop more vertical machines for a wide range of needs, with injection from top
(gripping power) and fuel efficiency (rolling resistance). Rolling resistance impacts 15% on fuel consumption, of which the tread has an impact of 50%. For the vehicle as a whole, the tread component has an impact of 7.5% on fuel consumption. JSR says its rubber has been designed to reduce rolling resistance, suppressing the heat generated by friction (energy loss), by 45% compared to conventional SSBR. This is made possible by making changes to the ends of the rubber molecules to make it easier for them to form connections, without changing the properties.
to bottom especially for applications that require a lower working height. For automated production applications, the company address this with the new horizontal edition that is compact in size and available in two types of drives – asynchronous and servomotors. In addition, Maplan will also offer an extensive series with tie-bar-less C-frame clamping units. With open access to the mould mounting area, these machines fulfill requirements for producing rubber profiles used for car pats.
JSR claims SSBR has better properties
Cooper-Standard invests in key technologies
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n light of the growing demand for solution styrene-butadiene rubber (SSBR), Japanese firm JSR increased the capacity of its Yokkaichi plant from 25,000 to 60,000 tonnes/ year last year. It also has a 30,000-tonne/ year SSBR facility with Styron in Europe and with recent expansions, its capacity of SSBR is 90,000 tonnes/year. Nevertheless, the company plans to build a new plant in Thailand, producing 50,000 tonnes/year starting 2013 and 100,000 tonnes/year by 2015. SSBR is mainly used in the tyre tread, which is the only part of the tyre that comes into contact with the road’s surface and contributes to break performance
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ooper Standard Automotive has acquired the patents and intellectual property rights and assets of EDC Automotive relating to thermal management technologies, product development and testing capabilities. According to the company, this investment on thermal management area will help it strengthen its technology and talent base. The said acquisition will benefit customers from an expanded product offering, as well as enhanced capabilities in developing new solutions that help improve fuel economy, reduce emissions and enhance vehicle
performance. Already a thermal management solutions provider, Cooper Standard provides heating and cooling systems and products for multiple powertrains, including hybrids, electric vehicles and internal combustion engines.
Biodegradable shoe takes cue from Amazon
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n the Amazon, slipping on shoes is as simple as painting a thin layer of latex on an individual’s feet. Based on this concept, Spanish firm OneMoment has developed a 2 mm thick biodegradable shoe made by injecting natural biopolymers, similar to latex, into a mould. The elastic, biodegradable material moulds on to the foot and rolls up for easy storage. The shoe is hand and machine washable. Once it has outlived its purposeful life, the shoe can decompose. According to the company, internationally certified biopolymers are used for the shoe suitable for travelling, walking and for sports activities. It is now available in 35 countries.
Latex bioshoe for convenience
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Rubber Journal Asia Technology News
EcoSynthetix is increasing its capacity to meet new demands
EcoSynthetix to increase capacity
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S renewable chemicals firm EcoSynthetix, which produces a family of latex biobased products, has commissioned a 36,000 tonne/year-production line within its existing US facility. The firm also installed a 36,000-tonne/ year line at its Dutch plant last year, bringing its total capacity to 106,000 tonnes/year. With the expansions, the company says it will be able to meet increasing demands from new and existing markets such as paper and paperboard. The new line comprises process automation technology for a range of packaging options, including 25 kg bags and super sacks as well. It is also designed for flexibility with the capability to accommodate multiple feedstocks.
Xiameter speeds up productivity
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ow Corning has released Xiameter RBL-9200 liquid silicone rubber (LSR), a series of lowviscosity products
that can flow at lower pressures into intricate tool cavities. According to the company, the LSR can help rubber product fabricators shorten overall processing cycles and optimise manufacturing performance because it reduces processing adjustments at the moulding machine. Possible applications for the new Xiameter series include electrical insulation, keypads, grommets, gaskets and seals. Because it is suitable for food products, it can also be used for spatulas and pot holders as well as potentially an alternative to latex in baby-bottle nipples and pacifiers.
its commercialising its products. CEO Marc Delcourt said that the company had ramped up its capacities during the second half of 2011. It will start operating a laboratory pilot from mid-2012 and an industrial pilot from mid-2013. It entered into a number of partnerships last year including an agreement with New Zealand-based LanzaTech to evaluate the feasibility of producing isobutene from carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide can be obtained by gasification of agricultural waste (straw), forestry waste (wood pellets) or municipal solid waste. It can also be obtained from exhaust gas of steel mills. This collaboration reflects Global Bioenergies’s involvement in accessing feedstock that does not compete with food generation. It also signed a butadiene partnership with synthetic rubber maker Synthos to develop a process to convert biological sources into butadiene, which represents a US$30 billion market. It includes R&D funding, possible multimillion Euro development fees, royalty payments, shared exploitation rights on the different applications of the molecule and a EUR1.4 million equity investment in Global Bioenergies from Synthos, which was finalised in September last year. Its recent agreement was with a major German car manufacturer seeking to integrate sustainable development in its activities.
The new Xiameter LSRs are to assist rubber fabricators
Revenue not a top agenda for bio firm
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aris-based industrial biology company Global Bioenergies that is developing sustainable routes to isobutene and butadiene, reported a half-year revenue of EUR100,000, for the year ended December 2011, and said that revenue was not important at this stage, until it starts
Butamax and Gevo in patent tussle
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S biobutanol maker Butamax Advanced Biofuels recently commented on the lawsuit filed by Gevo alleging patent infringement. “Certain innovative technology is critical for commercial production of isobutanol. This is especially true for the fundamental biosynthetic pathway claimed in our 188, 889 and related patents filed by Butamax several years ago,” said Paul Beckwith, Butamax CEO. “However, it is our view that the obvious modifications claimed in this recent Gevo patent, reliant on the fundamental pathway, are in fact not critical for our commercialisation strategy.” The Butamax patents, which are the subject of a lawsuit filed by Butamax against Gevo, cover microorganisms which have been engineered to express the required enzymes for isobutanol production, methods of using these microorganisms as well as techniques for recovering isobutanol. Accordingly, these patents cover fundamental steps for commercial production. The trial date for the Butamax lawsuit is scheduled for April 2013. Butamax benefits from the synergy of US firm DuPont’s industrial biotechnology experience and BP’s global fuels market knowledge.
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