Author: RubberWorld

The exhibitor database of K 2025, The No. 1 Trade Fair for Plastics and Rubber, is now online at www.k-online.com/2410. Currently, all the main exhibitors can be found there and the co-exhibitors will be gradually added. The fully booked trade fair is again characterized by the participation of international market leaders along the entire value chain. Exhibitors from 61 countries will take part in K and more than 3,000 exhibitors are expected in the 18 exhibition halls.

NISSEI’s US production subsidiary was established in November 2016 to provide large-size injection molding machines to the North American market on a stable basis and with short delivery times. The operation of the US factory began in March 2018. As a global supplier of injection molding machines, NISSEI has a management strategy of producing and delivering ideal machines from the nearest production bases to meet demands in each region. NISSEI has followed its strategical plan and established a global production system with five production bases in Japan, China, Thailand, United States, and Italy.

Orion S.A. has announced a series of layoffs as part of its preliminary fiscal year 2024 update. The company revealed that it will reduce its non-plant workforce by approximately 6%, a move expected to generate around $6 million in annualized cost savings starting in 2025. This decision comes as Orion faces several financial challenges, including foreign exchange translation impacts and weaker-than-anticipated volumes in its Rubber segment.

The Indian state of Tripura, under the initiative of the Automotive Tyre Manufacturers’ Association (ATMA), has surpassed its five-year rubber cultivation target of 30,000 hectares. The state now aims to expand the plantation to 69,000 hectares, an official announced on Sunday.

The Indian Natural Rubber Operations for Assisted Development (INROAD), supported by ATMA, was launched in 2021 to develop 200,000 hectares of natural rubber plantations in Northeast India and West Bengal over five years. The Rubber Board had set a target of 30,000 hectares for Tripura under this initiative.

Now in its 25th year, Tire Technology Expo remains the tire industry’s essential annual event, gathering a global community of scientists, engineers, academics and professionals to share knowledge, learn about the latest industry developments, see new products, and shape the future of tire manufacturing and design. Join our industry on March 4-6th, 2025 in Hannover Germany and discover ground-breaking innovations from over 240 exhibitors.

The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. (YRC), announced its decision to close its Prague plant, operated by its subsidiary Yokohama TWS Czech Republic a.s., which specializes in the production and sales of cross-ply off-highway tires (OHT), including tires for agricultural machinery. The production of tires currently being manufactured at this plant will be transferred to other plants within the YRC group.

Covestro LLC has again been named as a Top Employer in the United States by the Top Employers Institute for 2025. This marks the third consecutive year that the company has received this prestigious recognition, reinforcing its global dedication to fostering outstanding work environments across its international operations.

Protolabs has expanded its capabilities with the introduction of full-service production to help serve companies at every stage in their product life cycles—from early prototyping and pre-production to large-scale manufacturing and end-of-life product support. The evolution enables improved pricing options for larger part orders, enhanced quality control, and focused industry certifications critical in production while maintaining Protolabs’ established low-volume, quick-turn prototyping capabilities.

For the past four years, the Benvic Group has entrusted EcoVadis, one of the foremost providers of sustainability ratings, to assess their performance and progress around four themes: Environment, Labor & Human Rights, Ethics, and Sustainable Procurement; and as such Benvic earned a Gold Medal for the third year in a row – this time reaching the 98th percentile in our industry showing improvement on all metrics.