rss1

Michelin is planning to halt output at four factories in Spain due to delays in the delivery of raw materials caused by the crisis in the Red Sea according to their Spanish subsidiary as being reported by Reuters.

A dozen shipping lines have opted to divert ships that previously used this route via southern Africa, increasing the crossing time for supplies to Europe by about 10 days.

HEXPOL Compounding Europe sites can provide full transparency about product carbon footprints of their compounds. HEXPOL’s Rubber Compounding sites in Europe can now provide the carbon footprint of their compounds with an internal calculation tool built upon the principles of ISO 14067:2018. HEXPOL’s methodology of calculating the PCF data for the cradle-to-gate scope was recently certified by TÜV Rheinland.

ACE Laboratories has announced another significant expansion. This recent expansion is part of an ongoing investment exceeding $1,000,000 and an increase in lab space by 7,500 square feet. The state-of-the-art dedicated laboratory expansion offers dynamic testing capabilities for materials, essential services for predicting in-service performance of rubber products such as tires, belts, mounts, vibration isolators, bridge bearings, seals and much more.

At CES® 2024, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company unveiled the latest tire in the ElectricDrive™ family: The Goodyear® ElectricDrive™ 2, an all-season electric vehicle (EV) tire enhanced with sustainable materials1, improved rolling resistance2 and long-lasting tread life to maximize drivers’ EV performance. The new ElectricDrive™ 2 is the latest step in Goodyear’s sustainability maturity and contains at least 50% sustainable materials per tire by weight.

Wacker Chemie AG plans to further expand its silicone specialties business and is reorganizing its production operations in Europe. A new production site for silicones is to be built in Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic. The main drivers of this expansion measure are megatrends such as electromobility and renewable energies which require silicones from WACKER. Production is expected to start at the end of 2025. In the first step of the project, the Group would create up to 200 jobs. The investment volume is in the low triple-digit million euro range.

he Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, a leader in connected mobility, and Gatik (Gatik AI, Inc.), the leader in autonomous middle mile B2B logistics, announced the expansion of the industry’s first, successful integration of tire intelligence technology into an autonomous driving system.

The Association for Rubber Products Manufactures (ARPM) recently welcomed four new Board Members: Cedric Glasper the President of Mechanical Rubber, Jeffrey Leach the President / Chairman of Passaic Rubber Company, Caitlin Steele the Senior Director of Global Marketing and Communications at Gates, and John Stone the Technical Sales Manager of The Rubber Group.

The Rubber Division, ACS offers a Rubber Technology Training Award for an individual already in the rubber industry seeking additional education and opportunities for advancement. The organization also has three $5,000 undergraduate scholarships available for students who wish to pursue a degree in rubber technology, polymer science or the chemical profession.

Myers will acquire Signature for a total consideration of approximately $350 million, subject to customary adjustments. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2024 and to be neutral to slightly dilutive to US GAAP EPS in 2024, but then deliver EPS accretion of $0.20-$0.30 in 2025, $0.40 – $0.50 in 2026 and additional meaningful EPS accretion beyond 2026. Annualized run-rate operational and cost synergies of $8 million are expected to be fully captured by 2025.

The Rubber Division, ACS would like to remind you that the January 12th deadline for the Call for Abstracts – for the Spring Technical Meeting
being held April 30 – May 2, 2024, at the Hilton Polaris in Columbus, OH is fast approaching.