PRA March 2012 RJA Industry News

Rubber Journal Asia Technology News

Chinese EPDM plant to use Italian technology

I

talian petrochemical technology firm FasTech has licensed its EPDM technology to petrochemical firm Shaanxi Yanchang Petroleum Yanan Energy and Chemical that will build a 50,000 tonne/year-plant in Xian. Yanchang’s plant will start up in 2014 and will be fed with monomers to be produced in the new methanol to olefins (MTO) plant, which Yanchang is building in the same location. FasTech will supply Yanchang with an extended Process Design Package (PDP) and other technical services. Chengdu-based Chengda Engineering will subsequently develop the engineering services for the plant.

VMI’s latest tyre building machine

D

utch rubber and tyre machinery supplier VMI has launched its Exxium car and light truck tyre building machine that has a cycle time of 44 seconds. The machine can handle 12”-24” rim diameter tyres and can be automated.

With more complex tyre designs, with additional full rubber components, steel and/or fabric chafer strips, it requires operator involvement, to allow for quality assurance.

VMI says it has used a design approach to completely rethink the actual purpose, simplify where possible and question the conventions. Based on this it has launched two other machines, the Maxx and the EdgiQ

breaker cutter splicer. The Maxx machine has been further improved and is distinguished from the Exxium by a complete hands-off and eyes-off philosophy, featuring robots and requiring special apexed bead stacking equipment.

Amputee triathlete Sarah Reinertsen helped design the Nike Sole

Vystar’s first Chinese patent

U

S-based Vystar has received its third US and first Chinese patents for its Vytex natural rubber latex (NRL). The US patent expands the claims beyond just reducing proteins and recognises that the process also reduces the level of non-rubber components in Vytex.

The Chinese patent not only validates the US patent but also extends intellectual property right protection for the product.

The company says that since China is one of the leading producers of NRL products, the protection of the process is important for its growth.

Its aim is to add on product differentiation to the US$4.6 billion NRL global market.

The company now has a total of five issued patents in the US and abroad, with more than a dozen pending.

Meanwhile, Vytex also qualifies as the first and only commercially available material for a new latex category with a maximum 0.5% non-rubber content approved in 2010 by ASTM.

sole that can be used with prosthetic specialist Össur’s Flex-Run prosthetic blade for amputee athletes.

The Nike Sole features an integrated layered sole including an outsole, midsole and thermal PU called Aeroply, made of recycled Nike Air Bag units, serving as a moderator between Nike Sole and the Flex-Run blade. Nine nylon plastic tabs serve as fingers that wrap snugly around the Flex-Run carbon fibre blade for secure lock down and easy on-off. A stretch rubber leash with tactile grip tab for easy placement over a medallion fastener provides additional security.

The first prototype sole used by Reinertsen was made from a Nike Free 5.0 Trail outsole, which was adhered to a plastic-based sleeve that would slide onto the blade. This was tweaked based on her feedback wear while testing the sole unit.

Industry News

Plastic/rubber shoe sole for prosthetics

Sumitomo breaks ground on facilities in Singapore and Brazil

U

S shoe maker Nike worked with competitive amputee triathlete Sarah Reinertsen to develop a composite shoe 1

MARCH 2012

J

apanese firm Sumitomo Chemical recently held

a groundbreaking ceremony for its new 40,000 tonnes/year solution styrene butadiene rubber (SSBR) plant in Singapore, based on the high growth of SSBR in tyres.

The company says it decided to construct the new SSBR plant in Singapore because of its geographical advantage in the supply to rapidly growing Asian markets and stable procurement of the raw material butadiene as well as tie-ups with existing businesses of the group in the region. The facility is scheduled for completion in June 2013 and commercial operations are planned to begin during the fourth quarter of 2013.

The company, expecting further demand growth, is working on a plan to build an additional plant to increase production. It also has a 10,000 tonne/ year-plant in Japan.

Another subsidiary in the group, Sumitomo Rubber Industries, also recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for its first tyre production factory in South America. The ceremony was carried out on the construction site of the passenger tyre factory in Fazenda Rio Grande City, Parana State, Brazil.

The company says it is catering to the growing automotive and tyre sectors in the country.

Sumitomo plans to begin producing passenger tyres at the plant in October 2013.

Production capacity will be 15,000 tyres/day by the end of 2016. w w w. r u b b e r j o u r n a l a s i a . c o m

Rubber Journal Asia Second rubber park in India

I

ndia has set up a Rs23 crore industrial rubber park in Bodhungnagar in Western Tripura. A joint venture between the Tripura Industrial Development Corporation (TIDC) and the Rubber Board, it is the second of its kind in the country after the rubber park in Irapuram, Kerala. Tripura is the second largest natural rubber producer in the country after Kerala.

Koppers’s Chinese carbon plant

U

S-based carbon compound and treated wood products maker Koppers is setting up three coal-tar based carbon product plants in Jiangsu, China, with Nippon Steel Chemical, Sojitz JECT, Yizhou Group and the Pizhou government. The facilities will comprise a 250,000 tonne coal tar distillation plant and two downstream plants producing needle coke and carbon black.

It is envisioned that the carbon black and needle coke facilities will be wholly-owned subsidiaries of Nippon Steel and the coal tar distillation facility will be owned by Koppers and Yizhou, with Koppers owning a majority share. Plant construction is expected to commence in 2012 with completion targeted for early 2014.

Thai government props up glove sector

T

he Thai government is intervening in the rubber gloves industry by offering soft loans of 5 billion baht to local

agricultural institutes and 10 billion baht soft loans to rubber estate organisations, enabling latex prices to stay above US$2.30 in the short term. The intervention was done through the Bank of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives to increase the price of locally-grown natural rubber.

cable and household goods industries. Siliconas Silam has been compounding and marketing the German firm’s products in the region for more than a decade.

Silicone compounds are usually made by mixing crosslinker, pigments and other additives into the rubber base. Typical applications range from high temperature-resistant hoses for the automotive sector to cable insulation and to heat-resistant gaskets for oven doors.

Hexpol acquires TPE maker

G

erman firm Hexpol’s acquisition of Müller Kunststoffe has been finalised, with the latter becoming a part of business area of the compounding business thereby broadening Hexpol’s TPE portfolio.

According to Hexpol, the acquisition price of EUR39 million is funded by a combination of cash and existing bank loans. The 90-employee Müller, which has an estimated yearly turnover of EUR46 million, has two production units in Germany.

Hexpol expects the market for TPE compounding to grow, especially in the field of medical, consumer, general industry and automotive sectors. Müller complements its European TPE compounding operations where it already has units in the UK and Sweden and the company is also building a facility in China.

Sales of vehicles grow in Asia and UK

J

apan’s Automotive Manufacturers’ Association (JAMA) expects a 19% or 5.02 million unit increase in the total vehicle sales this year. The figure includes sales of new passenger cars and commercial vehicles at 3.24 million units, up by 20.3% from 2011; and the mini-vehicle sales increasing by 17% to 1.78 million units.

The previous year had seen a decline of 15.1% to 4.21 million units for sales of passenger cars and commercial vehicles, whilst demand for new passenger cars and commercial vehicles totalled 2.69 million units, a 16.7% drop from the 2010 figure. Meanwhile, mini-vehicle demand was also down by 11.9% to 1.52 million units during the same year.

In the UK, new car registrations only inched up by 0.03% to 128,853 compared with January last year while truck registrations climbed 45.4% to a total of 3,586 trucks at the onset of the year compared to same period last year, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders

Wacker extends silicones supply

M

unich-based chemicals group Wacker has tied up with Spanish silicones compounder Siliconas Silam to sell ready-to-use products made from Wacker silicone rubber base under its own label. Customers include the automotive, construction,

(SMMT). Meanwhile, sales volumes are up by 24.6% to 44,063.

Also, small number van registrations will result in a decrease in the wider commercial vehicle market, which fell by 16.4% year-onyear to 14,338.

Reliance and Sibur firm up Indian jv

R

eliance Industries, India’s largest private company, and Russia-based Sibur, Eastern Europe’s largest petrochemical company, have firmed up the setting up of a US$450 million joint venture facility to produce 100,000 tonnes/ year of butyl rubber in Jamnagar, Gujarat, by 2014.

Both the companies made the announcement a few years ago and have now committed to moving this forward.

Reliance Sibur Elastomers will be the first manufacturer of butyl rubber in India and the fourth largest supplier of the polymer in the world. Reliance will have a 74.9% equity in the stake while Sibur will take up 25.1%. Both companies also signed a technology licence agreement facilitating use of Sibur’s proprietary butyl rubber technology.

Besides the ready availability of feedstock, Gujarat state is also where major automotive makers have confirmed setting up their plants and the new facility will cater to the growing demand for synthetic rubber in the country, pegged at 75,000 tonnes/year and currently satisfied by imports. Car sales in India rose 13% last year to 12.75 million units, helped by demand for two wheelers and commercial vehicles in the world’s second fastest-growing economy.

3 MARCH 2012

w w w. r u b b e r j o u r n a l a s i a . c o m

Rubber Journal Asia Ansell grooming for wellness

A

ustralian glove and condom firm Ansell’s first-half profit increased by 1.1% or US$64.9 million in the six months to 31 December, slightly higher compared to the previous corresponding period.

In the wake of a sluggish revenue at US$597.7 million, down by 3.9% from US$621.8 million, Ansell is batting for recovery, observing that a recouping US economy and strong Asian markets may offset the gloom in the European economy.

With the company’s implementation of its enterprise resource plan (ERP), recovery is expected during the second half through fiscal 2013. Moreover, it is optimistic with the turnout of its sexual wellness business.

Analysts give thumbs up to Sime Darby’s buy

M

alaysian conglomerate Sime Darby’s acquisition of a 95% stake in Indonesian company PT Indo Sukses Lestari Makmur for US$4.36 million has been given the thumbs up by analysts. It has been reported that the acquisition, through its indirect wholly-owned subsidiary PT Minamas Gemilang involves a “minimal investment” while the development cost is over a 15-year period.

PT Indo Sukses, which is involved in the forestry business, has applied for an exploitation licence from Indonesia’s Ministry of Forestry (MOF) for over 10,000 ha of rubber forest in East Belitung Regency, Bangka Belitung Province. The deal will involve PT Minamas Gemilang buying 3,500 and 300 ordinary shares in PT Indo Sukses from SLT Capital and PT Entete Mining respectively and is dependent on PT Indo Sukses’s obtaining the exploitation licence from Indonesia’s MOF. Sime Darby’s plantation business is principally in oil palm, with about 314,000 ha planted in Malaysia and 208,000 ha in Indonesia.

The deal is not expected to have a significant impact on Sime Darby’s earnings in the 20122014 financial years as the land needs to be developed and it is “small” compared with the conglomerate’s land bank in Malaysia and Indonesia.

Analysts also point out that the deal is competitively priced since recent rubber plantation land transactions in Malaysia and Thailand have been priced between RM20,000 and RM25,000 per ha.

tyre maker Continental has introduced Conti. eContact for e-cars and hybrid cars. A requirement was to reduce the rolling resistance by 30% to increase the travel range of e-cars and to facilitate longer operation with the electric motor in hybrid vehicles.

To maintain high standards for directional stability and handling, different tread variants are produced in some cases, also for use on the front and rear axle.

The tyre sizes also differ depending on the type of vehicle. For example, smaller, narrower dimensions are required for light urban vehicles, while e-cars with more volume use tyres for the 20 in. rims.

Continental engineers achieved the reduction in rolling resistance by using a large and narrow tyre dimension.

Thus, deformation of the tyre is reduced when entering the contact patch, lowering rolling resistance considerably. This also means that the same load bearing capacity can be achieved as for conventional tyres.

In addition, the side wall of the tyre was designed in such a way that less energy is lost when the tyre deflects and rebounds and the tyre weight was further reduced. These measures also lower the rolling resistance.

With its combination of four longitudinal grooves, high number of sipes, the absence of traverse grooves

Tyre News

Conti rolls out ecar tyre

T

o cater to the 2.8 million electric cars expected by 2020, representing a market share of 3%, German

The e-car tyre has been approved for use in Renault’s Twizy

and the rigidity of the tread ribs, the tread has been optimised for low rolling resistance and low noise emission.

In this way, precise handling properties and safe braking distances on wet surfaces were achieved as well. The very flat tyre contour prevents the tyre’s belt elements from moving more, thus further reducing rolling resistance. The side wall has also been designed for low energy consumption. Here, the developers did not use the usual edges and design elements in order to keep air resistance as low as possible.

By reducing rolling resistance, Continental aims to cut the energy required by e-cars and thus increase the operational radius of this new type of vehicle.

The extended range this makes possible will significantly increase end-consumer acceptance of these vehicles, while at the same time reducing the energy used per 100 km and the time required to charge the batteries.

4 MARCH 2012

w w w. r u b b e r j o u r n a l a s i a . c o m

Rubber Journal Asia Hitting the million mark

A

ddressing the growing vehicle market in the country, Indian tyre maker Apollo Tyres’s Chennai facility has produced a million truck-bus radial (TBR) tyres. The TBR unit went on-stream with an initial production of 250 tyres/ day in 2010 and has been gradually ramped up to now reach 4,000 a day.

Truck-bus radials account for 19% of the total commercial vehicle tyres produced by Apollo, which mirrors the overall radialisation of 20% in the category in India.

The company expects to speed up the process and hit its next million in the next ten months.

The Chennai unit, which has been operational for around two years, has already produced 3 million passenger car tyres and currently produces 7,500 passenger vehicle tyres/day.

Meanwhile in the US, at Japanese tyre maker Bridgestone’s Aiken County passenger and light truck tyre facility, it hit the 100 millionth mark. The facility began operations in 1999 and currently employs 95.

In 2011, the company announced two phases of expansion for the plant.

In related news, Bridgestone also plans to increase large and ultra-large OTR tyre production capacity at its three-year-old Kitakyushu radial OTR tyre plant by20 tonnes/ day by 2014. Its capacity at the end of 2011 was 90 tonnes/day.

be registered by the industrial and other tyre segment, which includes a variety of types, including bicycle, motorcycle and off-road tyres.

Michelin targeting double-digit billion mark

F

rench tyre maker Michelin expects to capitalise on a number of unique competitive advantages to drive at least 25% growth and generate positive free cash flow over the 20112015 period. Meanwhile, it has raised its 2015 operating income target to EUR2.5 billion.

Its advantages include forefront positions both in the premium tyre segment and in all of its speciality businesses as well as a balanced global footprint that will be further strengthened in 2012 with the start-up of new plants in Brazil and China.

Michelin says it has also introduced a new programme to improve the competitiveness of its manufacturing operations and services by around EUR1 billion over five years.

New subsidiary for MHI

J

apanese firm Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) will establish a whollyowned subsidiary to handle the industrial machinery business, including material handling systems and rubber and tyre machinery, effective April.

It will be created by integrating the industrial machinery business, currently being operated by the Industrial Machinery Business, Technology & Solutions Division of MHI, and three existing group companies, including MEC Engineering Service (MEC).

Tyre makers expand in Vietnam and Bangladesh

Global tyre demand to accelerate

T

he Southern Rubber Industry JSC (Casumina) has started construction on a US$160 million car tyre plant in southern Binh Duong Province. The plant will cover an area of 70,000 sq.m, with a production capacity of 1 million tyres/year.

Construction will be divided into three phases with the first phase scheduled to finish in the first quarter of 2013 with an annual capacity of

W

orld demand for tyres is forecast to rise 4.7% per year through 2015 to 3.3 billion units according to US research firm Freedonia Group. In value terms, the tyre market is projected to advance 6.5% annually over the same span to US$220 billion.

The large vehicle tyre market will see an acceleration in growth through 2015.

Stronger gains will

350,000 units.

Meanwhile Indian tyre maker Ceat is investing up to Rs250 crore to set up its first manufacturing plant in Bangladesh within the next two years. With a capacity of 65 tonnes/ day, the company says it will be the first such large tyre plant in Bangladesh. The company is initially targeting to roll out only cross-ply tyres for various segments such as trucks and light commercial segments.

Wide range for “green tyres”

W

ith an annual growth rate of 10%, “green tyres” are the fastest growing in the market. This is prompting companies like German chemicals supplier Lanxess to focus on synthetic rubber offerings, as pointed out by its participation in the recent Tire Technology Expo, where it introduced several concepts.

The company focused on advancements in the field of butyl and styrene-polybutadiene rubber, the development of new grades for winter treads using the nanoadditive Nanoprene, functionalised styrenebutadiene rubber products for “green tyres” and process improvements with modified neodymiumpolybutadiene rubber (Nd-PBR) at the German show.

In technical presentations, Heike Kloppenburg, head of

5 MARCH 2012

w w w. r u b b e r j o u r n a l a s i a . c o m

Rubber Journal Asia

Dietmar Hoff accepting the award on behalf of Rhein Chemie that won the tyre technology award at the show

Product and Process Development in the Performance Butadiene Rubbers business unit (BU PBR), spoke about modifying Nd-PBR for easy rubber processing, explaining how classical conflicts between processability and tyre properties can be resolved using modified Nd-PBR. Meanwhile, Fernanda Albino from the PBR business unit described how rolling resistance can be improved with both functionalised styrene-butadiene rubber and SSBR grades with a variable vinyl and styrene content.

Functionalised SSBR rubber products also were the main topic of a presentation by David Hardy, Technical Marketing Manager, PBR business unit.

“These products have the potential to deliver the rolling resistance and wet grip properties typical of silica, without the expensive silane additives. This also would reduce the number of blending steps – when using innovative SSBR rubber grades with suitable functional groups across the entire polymer molecule,” he said.

Dietmar Hoff from

Yokohama defers sales target and sets up Chinese R&D

Marketing and Sales of Release Agents and Bladders at Lanxess subsidiary Rhein Chemie, explained in his paper on “High Performance Curing Bladders” how the application of expertise in rubber and manufacturing technology combined with the targeted use of highly effective release agents can increase bladder service life, while at the same time reducing vulcanisation time and increasing surface quality, which ultimately reduces reject rates.

Lanxess’s focus on the sector is reflected in its investments. It has significantly expanded production capacities for Nd-PBR at three locations worldwide; another facility is in the planning for Singapore and scheduled to start production in 2015.

With an investment volume of some EUR200 million, it is the secondlargest project of its kind since company inception.

The company also made the largest single investment its history, totalling EUR400 million, in a butyl rubber plant at the same location, which is to begin operation in 2013.

Work is underway at the Triunfo site in Brazil to convert production to SSBR for use in green tyres. The final decision on the investment, estimated at well over EUR10 million, is to be made in mid-2012. At present, Lanxess already produces these rubber grades in the US, Brazil and in France.

J

apanese firm Yokohama Rubber says it is deferring its 1 trillion yen sales target to 2019 or 2020, which it was targeting to achieve in 2017, its centennial year.

In the three-year plan ending 2014, the firm is targeting to achieve sales of 630 billion yen, income of 60 billion yen and return on sales of 9.5%. Started in 2006, the plan comprises four three-year phases and is targeting annual net sales of 1 trillion yen, operating income of 100 billion yen and return on sales of 10%. Now, due to changes in the operating environment Yokohama says it will not achieve its sales target but expects to achieve its operating income by 2017.

In Japan, the persistently strong yen weighs heavily on exports and the scheduled increases in the national sales tax could dampen consumption but demand associated with the rebuilding effort in areas affected by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami will stimulate GDP growth.

Tyres are the focus of Yokohama’s growth plans and company expects to expand its global supply capacity.

For the period ended 31 December 2011, the firm posted a 36.7% higher income and 1.9% higher sales due to strongerthan-expected sales of replacement tyres in Japan and overseas and higher sales of winter tyres.

In other news, the

company has established a technical centre as the base for testing and evaluating raw materials on the premises of the tyre plant of Hangzhou Yokohama Tire in Zhejiang province.

The 250 million yen centre, which includes evaluation/analysis machines and analytical instrument, is Yokohama Rubber’s first overseas base for testing raw materials for tyres and industrial products.

The centre will also advise Chinese makers of raw materials on quality control and quality assurance through auditing. Advantages include easy confirmation of workability of raw materials at the adjacent tyre plant.

Chinese firm buys rubber company

C

zeck Republic-based tyre and technical rubber company CGS Group has sold its 100% share in piston and rubber machinery maker Buzuluk. to China-based Dalian Rubber & Plastics Machinery.

CGS says it wants to focus on its core business of selling off-road tyres and technical rubber.

Of Buzuluk, Dalian Rubber says it intends to utilise the location of the company and the tradition of machinery manufacturing in Komarov. “First, we will implement new technologies and develop production, R&D of rubber industry machinery and piston rings. We will also utilise the sales base of Buzuluk to introduce our machinery to the European market,” it said. Financial details were not disclosed.

6 MARCH 2012

w w w. r u b b e r j o u r n a l a s i a . c o m