Rubber Journal Asia Industry News farm started last December and incremental production increases are planned over the coming months. There has now almost been 35 years of continuous chemical production at the site, producing components and raw materials for the manufacture of sealants and adhesives, moulding and casting compounds, and other products. • The Egyptian Ministry of Military Production has tied up with Chinese manufacturer Poly Group to set up a passenger tyre manufacturing plant in Egypt. The new plant is to produce around 3 million tyres/ year and will reduce Egypt’s dependence on imported tyres, which reached US$186 million in 2018. However, the parties did not disclose information pertaining to tyre manufacturing technology to be used in the plant, which would be the second such facility in Egypt, after an existing plant in Alexandria, part of Prometeon Tyre Group. • China’s rubber tracks and rubber pads maker Global Track Manufacturing will invest US$2.5 million in a production plant in Tennessee, US, touted to bring at least 250 jobs to the area by 2021, according to the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD). Installation of the first Global Track manufacturing facility in the US is currently underway and initial production is expected to start in the summer of 2020. The new plant will be located on the 530,000-sq ft site of the
former Tower Automotive facility, which the Chinese manufacturer purchased in 2017, and is to produce rubber tracks for large OEMs such as Case and John Deere upon completion. • The joint venture between Evonik and Chinese company Wynca, Evonik Wynca (Zhenjiang) Silicon Material, has officially started the construction on a new fumed silica plant in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province, China. Scheduled to become operational in 2021 with a projected output of 9,000 tonnes/year, the new plant will produce fumed silica marketed under the name Aerosil, to fulfil the market demand for silicones, coatings and paints, modern adhesives and gel batteries in China. The joint venture will combine Evonik’s advanced product technology with local silicone industry value chain formed by Wynca, building a production facility for fumed silica products by utilising chlorosilanes from Wynca. Meanwhile, the by-product hydrochloric acid will also be fully utilised as a raw material for Wynca Zhenjiang Site. This integrated production loop is expected to make full use of by-products from each side and achieve resource recycling and synergies among organic silicon monomer, chlorosilane and fumed silica production. • China-based tyre manufacturer Guizhou Tyre has broken ground on two new production plants near the company’s headquarters in Guizhou, Guiyang Province. Once constructed and fully operational, the
US$307 million plant is expected to generate nearly US$426 million annually from the 3 million-odd truck/bus tyres produced. The new plant will mark the final phase of Guizhou Tyre’s relocation programme in the homeland, and also includes the construction of a separate, US$41 million factory to manufacture about 5,000 “giant engineering tyres”, with completion in 2021. In addition, Guizhou Tyre’s US$214 million Vietnam unit is predicted bring in about US$150 million from overseas sales. The plant is located in Long Giang Industrial Park in Tien Giang Province and has a capacity of 1.2 million units of truck/bus tyres/year. • Sweden-based Trelleborg’s Marine and Infrastructure operations is to locally produce its Gina Gaskets – vital components of construction – for various Chinese landmark projects including the ShenZhong Link project in Guangdong Province, touted to be the largest and widest immersed tunnel in the world. The supply agreement follows a contract with China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) and Guangzhou Salvage, which will see Trelleborg’s facilities in Ridderkerk, the Netherlands, and Qingdao, Shandong Province, following an expansion of its manufacturing capacity, take up production of the gaskets. Trelleborg also launched its new manufacturing line in Qingdao in December 2019, with the launch marking production of the facility’s first-ever Gina Gasket for the Chinese market.
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