Dow Corning and its joint venture partner have completed a US$1.8 billion integrated silicone production site in Zhangjiagang, China, the largest site of its kind in China. The complex includes a siloxane plant and a pyrogenic silica plant, both of which are jointly owned by Dow Corning and its joint venture partner. The site also features finished silicone production plants, which are owned and operated independently by each company. Products manufactured at the site include D4, linears, polymers, and other intermediates, as well as downstream products such as finished fluids, emulsions, sealants and rubber. In addition to intermediates and fluids, the Zhangjiagang site includes finished silicone plants for rubbers and sealants.
December 16, 2010
Sabanci Holding increasing stake in Kordsa Global
According to a Turkish newspaper, Milliyet, Haci Omer Sabanci Holding AS plans to invest $110 million in BRISA (the Turkish joint venture company owned by Bridgestone and the Sabanci Group) and in tire cord manufacturer Kordsa Global. The newspaper cites the president of Sabanci’s Tire, Tire Reinforcement Materials and Automotive division, Mehmet Pekarun, as saying the division is targeting sales of four billion liras in 2011. Sales this year will total around three billion liras. BRISA may post sales of 960 million liras this year and aims for 1.2 billion liras next year, Pekarun added.
From Tire Review.
Pirelli data show continued growth in November
Pirelli’s latest tire data show that the tire market continued to grow in November, albeit with some slowing.
The results, which show only percentage increases and not units, are here.
In NAFTA, OE car and light truck sales for November were up 2% YOY and 42% YTD, while replacement sales were up 7% YOY and 4% YTD. NAFTA’s OE truck tire sales were up 30% YOY and 29% YTD in November, while replacement truck tire sales were up 23% YOY and 18% YTD.
In Europe, OE car and light truck sales for November were up 3% YOY and 13% YTD, while replacement sales were up 15% YOY and 8% YTD. Europe’s OE truck tire sales were up 85% YOY and 53% YTD in November, while replacement truck tire sales were up 13% YOY and 18% YTD.
In the Mercosur region, OE car and light truck sales for November were up 11% YOY and 13% YTD, while replacement sales were up 15% YOY and 12% YTD. Mercosur’s OE truck tire sales were up 19% YOY and 49% YTD in November, while replacement truck tire sales were up 25% YOY and 22% YTD.
‘Green Roads Summit’ scheduled for Las Vegas
A new “Green Roads Summit” at CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2011 will offer attendees ready-to apply green construction techniques and the latest environmental information affecting jobsites, including green roads programs.
The daylong event, which includes a closing reception, is March 24, 2011 and is open to all show attendees. CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2011 will be held March 22-26, 2011 at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, USA.
The Green Roads Summit is a collaboration between CONEXPO-CON/AGG and Construction Materials Recycling Association (CMRA), U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Associated General Contractors of America (AGC).
Recycling/Reuse breakouts will discuss use of industrial byproducts in pavements, recycled asphalt pavement, scrap tires in rubberized asphalt, in-place concrete and asphalt pavement recycling and two-lift concrete construction with recycled concrete.
WTO sides with Obama administration on Chinese tire tariffs
The World Trade Organization’s dispute-settlement panel has sided with the Obama administration on a September 2009 decision to levy tariffs up to 35% on Chinese tires, the Wall Street Journal has reported. Both sides have sixty days to appeal the ruling.
The WTO panel, in its report, said the value of Chinese tire shipments to the U.S. nearly tripled between 2004 and 2008 to $1.8 billion. China countered that the rate of growth slowed between 2007 and 2008, and said U.S. trade officials had failed to account properly for the effect on U.S. producers of the broader slump in demand during the recession.
The tires decision contrasted with a WTO ruling Friday that condemned antidumping tariffs imposed by the European Union on imports of Chinese screws, billed as Beijing’s biggest WTO victory yet in its fight against retaliatory tariffs imposed by the EU and U.S. That case centered on EU charges that Chinese companies were exporting goods below cost.