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Bridgestone Americas (Bridgestone) has been awarded a research grant by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute to advance its optimization of guayule, a drought resistant, desert shrub that shows promise as a new, domestic source of natural rubber for tire production. A global leader in tires and mobility solutions, Bridgestone has spent more than a decade researching guayule rubber for use in tires.

The Wayne plant will remain closed between Apr 4 and Apr 11. At present, it is running on three shifts per day, manufacturing Chevrolet Silverados and GMC Sierra light-duty pickups. Since the plant employs more than 4,000 blue-collar workers, it is a matter of concern.

Dmitry Konov has resigned from his position as Chairman of PJSC SIBUR Holding’s Management Board, from PJSC SIBUR Holding’s Board of Directors, and from the Management Boards at PJSC SIBUR Holding and SIBUR LLC.
These organizational changes are being made following Dmitry Konov’s inclusion in the EU and UK sanctions lists and are expected to improve SIBUR’s resilience as one of the fastest-growing petrochemical players in the world.

The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., announces that it has entered into a share purchase agreement with the Swedish-based Trelleborg AB to acquire all outstanding shares of Trelleborg Wheel Systems Holding AB (hereafter, TWS), a company engaged in the manufacture and sale of off-highway tires (OHT) for agricultural and industrial machinery. TWS’s enterprise value is €2,040 million (about ¥265.2 billion, at ¥130/€1; the acquisition agreement also includes a performance-linked earn-out1). Yokohama Rubber estimates that the acquired business’ EBITDA multiple will be about 9×2. The acquisition is scheduled to be completed in the latter half of 2022, after completion of necessary procedures required by the competition laws of the European Union and other countries. The acquisition’s impact on Yokohama Rubber’s consolidated financial results is currently under examination.

ARLANXEO reaches a new milestone in advancing operations efficiency at the ARLANXEO EPDM plant in Changzhou to increase annual capacity by 15%. Independently designed and implemented by Changzhou plant, the innovative practice reiterates ARLANXEO’s commitment towards upgrading downstream applications to achieve efficient and sufficient product supply

The new iON tires meet the demanding everyday requirements for EV tires (EV = Electric Vehicle) thanks to an extensive set of technical measures. In particular, Hankook has countered the higher vehicle mass of electric vehicles – caused by the considerable weight of the drive batteries – with a higher load capacity. Among other things, ultra-resistant aramid fibers effectively counteract the deformation forces caused by the especially high torque in electric vehicles. The tread compound, which features a high proportion of natural resin, also ensures exemplary durability and reduced wear. Another special feature of the new compound is its high proportion of natural oils. This not only makes the iON products more sustainable overall, but also has a positive effect on the mileage of the tire

– The Rubber Division, ACS is offering the opportunity to win a complimentary Technical Meeting registration for the International Elastomer Conference for those who register for the upcoming Spring Technical Meeting this April 26-18 in Warrenville Heights, Ohio.

Yokohama Rubber and its employee-backed YOKOHAMA Magokoro Fund will donate a total of ¥50 million to support Ukrainian refugees. The company’s contribution will be ¥49 million, and the employees’ Magokoro Fund will contribute ¥1 million donation. The donations will be made through the Japanese Red Cross Society and the National Federation of UNESCO Associations in Japan

Pirelli has constituted a “Crisis Committee” to constantly monitor the development of the Russia-Ukraine crisis for which mitigation actions and a contingency plan have already been activated. When the company presented its preliminary 2021 results it announced an initial analysis of the impact on 2022 guidance. That analysis assumed the persistence of February level energy and oil prices until the end of the year, as well as the potential impact on local operations linked to imports and exports to and from Russia of raw materials and finished goods.