JSRは、欧州Styron Europe GmbHと締結していた同社Schkopau工場溶液重合SBR（S-SBR）製造ラインにおける3万トン引取権に関する契約を、2014年3月31日を以って解消することでStyronと合意いたしましたので、お知らせいたします。
本件が業績に与える影響は軽微であり、2014年1月27日に公表しております当期連結業績予想の変更はございません。
当社は2007年にDow Europe GmbHと、同社シュコパウ工場S-SBR製造ラインの50%引取権保有（3万トン／年）に関する契約を締結し、その後同社が合成ゴム事業をStyron
に売却した際も当引取権契約は引き継がれて、欧州での当社S-SBR製造・販売を進めてまいりました。
Beijing Yanshan Petrochemical
Co., Ltd. (Yanshan) will cooperate with Bayer, DSM and
Mitsubishi to set up a
rubber joint venture. The project will be completed in 2005
and Yanshan rubber production will be up to 300,000 tons from
210,000 tons currently.
Yanshan is a large butadiene
rubber (BR) maker with annual production of 120,000 tons. The
company also produces 30,000 tons of burly rubber, 15,000
tons of styrene butadiene rubber (SBR), 15,000 tons of
thermoplastic elastomer and several other rubbers annually.
Shanghai Gaoqiao
Petrochemical(上海高橋石油化学） and Asahi Kasei have completed a joint
feasibility study on a 100 000 tonne/year styrene butadiene
rubber (SBR) project in the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park,
in Caojing, Shanghai.
Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand,
signed late on Monday an accord to form an international rubber
cartel in a bid to prop up the price of the commodity in the
world market.
The establishment of the cartel, called the International Rubber
Consortium Limited (IRCo), was signed by Indonesia's Minister of
Trade and Industry Rini Soewandi, Malaysia's Minister of Primary
Industry Loim Keng Yaid, and Thailand's Agriculture Minister
Sora-at Klinpratoom.
JAKARTA - Indonesian tire
producers said the country could face a shortage of rubber
supplies following the establishment of the International
Rubber Consortium (IRCo) Ltd.
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company has filed an antitrust
lawsuit against suppliers of EPDM alleging price fixing and
anti-competitive conduct in violation of the federal Sherman Act
antitrust laws.
In the EPDM case, Goodyear is suing:
Bayer A.G., Leverkusen, Germany;
Bayer Polymers LLC, Pittsburgh, Pa.;
Bayer Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pa.;
Crompton Corporation, Middlebury, Conn.;
Uniroyal Chemical Company Inc., Middlebury, Conn.;
The Dow Chemical Company, Midland, Mich.;
E.I. duPont de Nemours & Company, Wilmington, Del.;
DuPont Dow Elastomers LLC, Wilmington, Del.;
DSM Elastomers B.V., Sitterb, The Netherlands;
DSM CoPolymer, Inc., Baton Rouge, La.;
Polimeri Europa S.p.A., Milan, Italy;
Polimeri Europa Americas, Inc., Houston, Texas
The DSM-Idemitsu joint
venture is planning to close its EPDM plant in Chiba, Japan by 30
September.
The closure follows
an earlier decision by DSM Elastomers to rationalise its EPDM
activities.
A new EPDM unit with
annual production capacity of 80,000 tonnes was opened by DSM
Elastomers in Geleen, the Netherlands, in 2003. The company said
this plant is now fully operational.
Asian customers of
the Keltan EPDM product will now be served from the Geleen plant
and DSM's other plant in Triunfo, Brazil. Almost all customers
have re-approved products from these plants and phase-out plans
for the Japanese plant are in place, said DSM.
リベリア Firestone
Rubber Plantation
US Firestone Tire and Rubber Companyが、1926年以来Harbelに所有してきた世界最大のパラゴムプランテーション（総面積：3万6500ha）。イェケパやボンの鉄鉱山とともに、リベリアの国家経済を支える柱として、アメリコ＝ライベリアン支配体制と密接に関わってきた。
参考 Shen Hua
Chemical Industrial Company Limited
a joint venture among Polybus Pte Limited ( a subsidiary of TSRC
Corporation),
Marubeni
Corporation and
Nantong Petro-Chemical Corporation. Total investment was
almost US$100 million,
DuPont and The
Dow Chemical Company (Dow) today announced that Dow has elected
to exercise its option to acquire certain assets relating to
ethylene and chlorinated elastomers, including assets of the
Engage®(ダウ・ケミカル社「インサイト技術」によるポリオレフィンエラストマー), Nordel®（エチレンプロピレンゴム）
and
Tyrin®塩素化ﾎﾟﾘｴﾁﾚﾝbusinesses, from DuPont Dow Elastomers LLC (DDE), a 50/50 joint
venture between DuPont and Dow, through an equity redemption
transaction involving Dow's equity interest in DDE. As a result
of this option exercise, DuPont will purchase Dow's remaining
equity interest in DDE for $87 million immediately after the
asset transfer has been completed.
These
transactions are subject to customary conditions, including
applicable regulatory approvals. DuPont and Dow expect to close
these transactions on June 30, 2005. After the transaction, DDE
will change its name and become a wholly owned subsidiary of
DuPont that will include the Neopreneクロロプレンゴム, Hypalon®クロロスルホン化ポリエチレン, Kalrez®パーフロロエラストマーパーツ, and Vito®フッ素ゴム
businesses.
Effective
July 1st, 2005, DuPont Dow Elastomers, the joint venture
company between DuPont and The Dow Chemical Company, will
become a wholly owned subsidiary of
DuPont and will be called DuPont Performance Elastomers. DuPont Dow's Viton®fluoroelastomers,
Viton®FreeFlowTM, Kalrez®perfluoroelastomer
parts, Neoprene synthetic rubber, Hypalon®chlorosulfonated
polyethylene and VertexTM seal technology
businesses will remain with the subsidiary.
Effective
July 1, 2005 Engage®, Nordel®and
Tyrin®become trademarks of The Dow
Chemical Company.
Viton®, Viton®FreeFlowTM, Kalrez®, Hypalon®and
VertexTM will remain
trademarks of DuPont Performance Elastomers
ZEON CHEMICALS AGREES
TO PLEAD GUILTY TO PRICE FIXING IN SYNTHETIC RUBBER
CONSPIRACY Company Also
Agrees To Pay a $10.5 Million Criminal Fine
Zeon Chemicals
L.P., a Kentucky-based wholly owned subsidiary of Zeon
Corporation of Tokyo, Japan, has agreed to plead guilty and
to pay a $10.5 million criminal fine for participating in a
conspiracy to fix prices of synthetic rubber used to
manufacture a variety of products including automotive parts,
the Department of Justice announced today.
The rubber,
acrylonitrile-butadiene, which is also known as NBR, is also
used to manufacture hoses, belting, cable, o-rings, seals,
adhesives, and sealants.
According to
the one-count felony charge filed in the U.S. District Court
in San Francisco, Zeon conspired from May 2002 through
December 2002 with unnamed co-conspirators to suppress and
eliminate competition in the market for NBR in the United
States and elsewhere. Under the plea agreement, which must be
approved by the court, Zeon has agreed to assist the
government in its ongoing investigation.
"Today's
charge is part of our continuing effort to eliminate illegal
cartel activity among chemical manufacturers," said
Scott D. Hammond, the Antitrust Division's Acting Deputy
Assistant Attorney General for Criminal Enforcement.
The Department
charged that Zeon and unnamed co-conspirators carried out the
conspiracy by: *
Participating in conversations and meetings to discuss prices
of NBR to be sold in the United States and elsewhere; * Agreeing,
during those conversations and meetings, to raise and
maintain prices of NBR to be sold in the United States and
elsewhere; and * Issuing price
announcements and price quotations in accordance with the
agreements reached.
Zeon was
charged with violating Section 1 of the Sherman Act, which
carries a maximum fine of $10 million for corporations and a
maximum penalty of three years imprisonment and a fine of
$350,000 for individuals for violations occurring before June
22, 2004. The maximum statutory fine may be increased to
twice the gain the conspirators derived from the crime or
twice the loss suffered by the victims of the crime, if
either of those amounts is greater than the statutory maximum
fine.
Today's charge
is the result of an ongoing investigation being conducted by
the Antitrust Division's San Francisco Field Office and the
Federal Bureau of Investigation in San Francisco.
Rubber chemicals
companies fined for operating a cartel
Four rubber chemicals
manufacturers have been fined a total of Eur 75.86 million by the
European Commission for running a cartel between 1996 and 2001 -
although the Commission says the cartel may have been operating
as long ago as the 1970s.
All four companies
had their fines reduced because of their
co-operation with
the investigation. Flexys co-operated fully and paid no
fine;
Bayer had a
20 per cent reduction and pays Eur 58.88 million; Crompton Europe, Crompton Manufacturing
Company (formerly Uniroyal Chemical Company) and Chemtura
Corporation (formerly Crompton Corporation) had their fine reduced by 50 per
cent to Eur 13.6 million, and General Quimica
and its parent companies Repsol Quimica and Repsol YPF had their fine reduced by 10 per
cent to Eur 3.38 million.
Firestone Polymers, LLC
is headquartered in Akron, Ohio, at 381 W. Wilbeth Road.
Production Our world-class ISO
9001:2000 / 14001 registered plants, located in Lake Charles,
Louisiana, and Orange, Texas, supply products to customers,
worldwide. Firestone's unique
anionic polymerization technology allows production of high
purity, high molecular weight polybutadiene(DieneTM Polybutadiene) and a wide range of
block, random, and vinyl modified styrene-butadiene
copolymers(DuradeneｮSolution SBR).
Statistical process control is used in every step of our
operation. The world's finest natural latex
comes from our natural rubber plantation in Liberia, West Africa. This plantation has
approximately 8 million trees, and it is the world's largest
natural rubber plantation.
Producers and
capacities: According to
the IISRP in 2000 the following production facilities and
producers are shipping polychloroprene into the market place:
Additional capacities
are located in Peoples Republic of China and Armenia. Shanxi Synthetic Rubber 25,000t
December 6th, 2004
Lanxess Invest
7m Euros to Upgrade Chloroprene Rubber Plant
Polychloroprene - an elastomer at the end of its life
cycle? " We do not think so" says Ingo Fischer,
the new Global Product Manager for Chloroprene Rubber at
LANXESS Deutschland GmbH. "Baypren® is still a
viable business. Expanding rubber applications like
replacement of natural rubber in air springs is a base
for solid growth". The good weathering resistance of
Baypren® , its good gas impermeability, dynamic
flexibility and excellent adhesion to fibers support a
vast variety of applications.
The seven million Euro
investment includes new process control, a capacity stretch to
80,000 metric tons per
year and further significant process improvements.
"An increased packaging
capacity will also support our customer's growing demand
of Baypren® in PE bags. The largest Polychloroprene
plant worldwide becomes state of the art", claims
Guenther Weymans, the new Head of the LANXESS Technical
Rubber business unit.
"Our continuous
polymerization technology gives us a particularly strong
edge in efficiency and homogenous product quality",
said head of production, Robert Gnann.
On Dec. 8, 2008, Bridgestone (Huizhou) Synthetic Rubber Company
(BSRC) - a whole subsidiary of Bridgestone Group, held a ceremony
for the start-up of styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) project in
Daya Bay, Huizhou, Guangdong Province.
With total investment of USD 99.5 million, the project has 50,000
t/a SBR capacity. The project was started construction in Aug.
2006 and started trial operation in Jul. 2008.
Feedstock of butadiene
and styrene will be mainly provided by CNOOC-Shell Petrochemical
Complex (CSPC). The SBR product will mainly supply to Bridgestone’s tire plants in China and Asia
area.
In Jul. 2008, CSPC and BSRC signed a long-term contract for
feedstock supply. According to the contractor, in the future 20
years, CSPC will supply around 31,000 ton butadiene and 12,000
ton styrene per year to BSRC.
According to Bridgestone, demand for high-performance tires is
increasing in Asia including China so it will drive the
increasing demand for SBR. BSRC will supply high-quality SBR
products and tires through leading technologies and consistent
quality management for market.
JSRは、MOL
Hungarian Oil and Gas Public Limited Company（「MOL」）とハンガリーにて溶液重合スチレン・ブタジエンゴム（S-SBR）の製造・販売を行う合弁会社を設立することに合意しました。
JSRとMOLは、契約の調印式を開催し、関係者出席のもと、合弁事業に関する契約書に両社代表者が調印しました。なお、合弁会社の設立は関係当局の競争法に関する認可を取得してからとなります。
DuPont to Sell DuPont™ Neoprene to Denka
Performance Elastomer LLC
Today, DuPont Performance Polymers and
DENKA (Denki Kagaku Kogyo K.K.) announced they have signed a definitive
agreement to sell DuPont™ Neoprene polychloroprene
to Denka Performance Elastomer LLC, a new
joint venture company owned 70 percent by DENKA
and 30 percent by Mitsui (Mitsui & Co.,
Ltd.). The sale is expected to close in the first half of 2015 pending
receipt of customary regulatory approvals. Financial terms of the deal
are not being disclosed.
Neoprene, invented by DuPont in 1931,
is a synthetic rubber used for many chemical and weather-resistant
products such as wet suits and orthopedic braces. It also is used as a
base resin in adhesives, electrical insulation and coatings. DuPont is
a leading producer of Neoprene polychloroprene in North America through
manufacturing operations at its Pontchartrain
Works site in La Place, La. Approximately 235 employees in the
United States will be included in the transaction.
“Neoprene has been an important
product line within DuPont Performance Polymers and we believe it will
truly thrive as part of the Denka Performance Elastomer portfolio,” said
Patrick E. Lindner, president of DuPont Performance Polymers. “This
agreement further enables the DuPont Performance Polymers business to
focus on innovative new offerings that drive profitable growth both
today and over the long term.”
“We are excited to welcome Neoprene
and the employees who manage this product,” said Shinsuke Yoshitaka,
DENKA president & CEO. “Chloroprene rubber is our core business and the
acquisition from DuPont will largely contribute to our further
sustainable growth. Also, DENKA can establish a flexible supply
structure with high-quality products. Furthermore, we expect to enjoy
synergies with our Research & Development and technical services, which
are our strengths. I believe that these positive effects will enable us
to serve the market and the customers much better.”
DENKA was founded in 1915 and is
headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. DENKA manufactures and distributes a wide
range of chemical products, encompassing organic and inorganic
materials, polymer processing, electronic materials and
pharmaceuticals. Since 1962, DENKA has been
manufacturing polychloroprene in its plant in Omi 青海, Japan,
using the acetylene method of
polychloroprene production. 現在の主力はブタジエン法（DuPontも）
DuPont has been bringing world-class
science and engineering to the global marketplace in the form of
innovative products, materials, and services since 1802. The company
believes that by collaborating with customers, governments, NGOs, and
thought leaders we can help find solutions to such global challenges as
providing enough healthy food for people everywhere, decreasing
dependence on fossil fuels, and protecting life and the environment.
For additional information about DuPont and its commitment to inclusive
innovation, please visit www.dupont.com.
DuPont will continue to serve as landlord
at the Pontchartrain Works site, which also houses production for DuPont
Protection Technologies. That unit makes Kevlar, the protective synthetic
fiber used in the bullet-resistant vests worn by police and military
personnel. The segment has 150 employees, all of which will also remain in
LaPlace, the company said.
Neoprene, invented by DuPont in 1931, is
used in a wide range of products, from wetsuits to electrical
insulation. DuPont's decision to sell the line comes as the company faces
mounting pressure from an activist investor to break up and shed divisions
in order to focus on faster-growing product lines.
当社グループの中期経営計画“Cs for Tomorrow
2018”では、マテリアル領域におけるS-SBR事業を重点戦略事業と位置づけ、グローバルに展開するとともに自動車用途向け等での拡大を目指しています。当社のS-SBRは、連続重合プロセスを主力とし、独自の技術開発によりタイヤの低燃費性とブレーキ性能を高次元でバランスさせながら、耐摩耗性や操縦安定性の改良も実現しており、国内外のお客様から低燃費タイヤに最適な材料として高く評価されています。現在は日本（神奈川県、大分県）、シンガポールで製造拠点を有しています。シンガポールでは2013年より生産を開始し、新開発の高性能銘柄を投入するなど市場の要求に応えてきましたが、さらなる需要拡大と顧客のニーズに応えた供給体制の拡充を図るため、生産能力を約3万トン／年増強し、2系列で合計13万トン／年とすることを決定しました。
Denka to increase chloroprene rubber production by 10,000 tons
Japan Rubber Weekly reports that Toshio Imai, a managing executive officer at
chloroprene rubber (CR) market leader Denka Co. Ltd., recently revealed plans by
the company to deal with globally tight supply for CR.
Imai clarified that Denka intends to increase
its production of the material by 10,000 tons, and
that plans here include resuming operations at a stopped line within its
domestic Omi Plant as well as removing bottlenecks at
Denka
Performance Elastomer LLC (DPE), a subsidiary based in the U.S. state of
Louisiana.
Denka will invest several hundred million yen
(100 million yen = $906,326) into these efforts, which are slated to take 1.5–2
years before entering operation.
The company is currently considering whether
to move forward with production increases at both plants or focus on just one,
Imai said. Denka’s Omi Plant produces CR using the
acetylene method, and boasts a world-leading annual
production capacity of 100,000 tons per year for
the material. Meanwhile, DPE’s plant was acquired
in 2015 as part of the neoprene business of the former E.I. du Pont de Nemours
and Co., commonly known as DuPont. The plant is able to produce
50,000 tons of CR each year using the
butadiene method.
Global CR demand is estimated at 280,000 tons
per year, and is expected to remain stable going forward. Denka intends to sell
high-performance grades of CR, and plans for this grade to make for an annual
business scale of 2.5 billion yen by 2020. Commenting on current market
conditions, Imai said that further price increases may be necessary in the
future to achieve and maintain stable supply. But for now, he said, price
adjustments will remain on the local level to help ensure fair prices. Going
forward, Denka intends to make more concrete plans for a production increase
within the first half of the year.
July 10, 2018
Michelin wants to sell
wooden tires
Michelin is looking at wood
chips to replace oil-based elastomers in tire production, according to
Motoring.com.au. The company hopes to produce the first wooden tire sometime in
2020.
With 80 percent of the
materials in tires coming from oil, the move to wood ingredients brings other
benefits other than weaning a company off oil. Trees grow everywhere, making it
easy for the company to source the renewable materials locally.
“We have a project working
with wood chips. We will use the waste from the wood industry to create
elastomers that come into tires,” Michelin’s Cyrille Roget, the worldwide
director of scientific and innovation communication, told the publication. “We
believe it is a good solution for the future.”
Right now, the company is
researching in Brazil. The company is setting up a plantation model that allows
for the growing of bananas and cocoa alongside rubber.
The company is also looking
at 3D printing tires, which is about 10 to 15 years down the road. However new
technologies could change that timeline. “We are working with it to develop
rubber printing, or polymer printing,” Roget added. “We are more in the early
stages of this technology. But it needs to be industrialized and ready for the
future.
