News from Notch Consulting, Inc.

January 26, 2015

Commerce Department sets preliminary China tire dumping duties

Filed under: Tires — Notch @ 6:35 am

As reported by Rubber News, the International Trade Administration announced last week that it has set preliminary antidumping duties on passenger and light truck tires imported from China at levels ranging from 19.17% to 87.99%, with rates for many of the better-known producers/brands set at 27.72%. The is scheduled to announce its final determination in the antidumping case on or about June 12. The Department of Commerce defines dumping as a foreign company selling a product in the US at less than its fair value.

The preliminary China-wide rate for Chinese tire exporters and producers was 87.99 percent, Commerce said. Giti Tire Global Trading Pte. Ltd. and its subsidiaries were found to have a dumping rate of 19.17 percent, and Sailun Group Co. Ltd. and its subsidiaries and affiliates, including Husky Tire Corp., were levied a dumping rate of 36.26 percent, the agency said.

Commerce found 65 “Separate Rate Companies” to have dumping margins of 27.72 percent. These companies included well-known companies such as Cooper Tire & Rubber Co., Bridgestone Corp., Goodyear Dalian Tire Co. Ltd., Hankook Tire China Co. Ltd., Kenda Rubber (China) Co. Ltd., Kumho Tire Co. Inc., Pirelli Tyre Co. Ltd., Qingdao Sentury Tire Co. LTd., Shandong Linglong Tyre Co. Ltd., Toyo Tire (Zhangjiagang) Co. Ltd. and Triangle Tyre Co. Ltd.

Cancarb names new CEO

Filed under: Carbon Black — Notch @ 6:30 am

On January 22, Cancarb Limited announced that its current President and CEO, Dave Petrie, will retire as of March 31, 2015. Mr. Petrie worked in various capacity at Cancarb for 19 years, and has been President since October 2008. Mr. Petrie’s successor as President and CEO is Ken Tate, who was previously the President of Cancarb from 2004 to 2006. He has more than 25 years of experience in the natural gas and power sectors.

Cancarb is the world’s leading producer of medium thermal black from its production plant in Alberta, Canada. In 2014, Cancarb was acquired by Tokai Carbon Co. Ltd.

Mr. Petrie has been a good friend to Notch Consulting and a steady leader at Cancarb during a turbulent time that included the global financial crisis. He will be missed, and we here at Notch wish him the best of luck in all of his future endeavors.

Here is the press release: Cancarb CEO to Retire_1_22_15

 

Orion Engineered Carbons launches Innovation Team to expand product portfolio

Filed under: Carbon Black — Notch @ 6:15 am

Frankfurt-based carbon black producer Orion Engineered Carbons L.L.C. has launched a new Innovation Team that will work with its technical marketing teams to boost its product offerings for both tire and non-tire markets. The new team, which is based at an Orion Applied Technology Laboratory in Germany, will focus on ensuring that the company’s efforts are aligned with customer needs. The team’s activities include both improvements to the manufacturing process as well as the development of new grades. Rubber News has details on the activities of the new team.

 

January 21, 2015

New tire plants drawing raw material suppliers to South Carolina

Filed under: Carbon Black — Notch @ 6:45 am

Rubber & Plastics News had an article the other day highlighting three raw material suppliers — a carbon black distributor, a steel cord and bead wire producer, and a mold manufacturer — currently expanding their operations in South Carolina to support the huge new investments in tire production capacity that are occurring in the state.

Intertex World Resources Inc. is a distributor of carbon black, masterbatches, natural and synthetic rubber, and process oils. The company is investing $3.2 million to establish a 100,000-sq.-ft. facility in Moncks Corner, South Carolina, about 35 miles from Charleston. The new location will focus on carbon black, which Intertex imports primarily from China and Russia. The carbon black is imported in supersacks and transloaded to hopper cars for distribution. The new distribution site will serve tire plants from Virginia to Georgia. Intertex operates about 20 warehouses across the country and has customer service centers in Georgia and Ohio. According to the company, the South Carolina facility is operational and includes a rail line and one loading dock at present, though two more loading docks will be added within the next few months.

Cabot realigns business reporting segments

Filed under: Carbon Black — Notch @ 6:30 am

Cabot Corporation today announced a change in its reporting segments: going forward Cabot is organized into four reporting segments: Reinforcement Materials, Performance Chemicals, Specialty Fluids, and Purification Solutions.

Reinforcement Materials now combines the rubber blacks and elastomer composites product lines. Elastomer composites previously was included in the Advanced Technologies segment, which no longer exists. This segment’s main objective is to serve the tire and industrial rubber industries.

Performance Chemicals (previously Performance Materials) includes two segments: Specialty Carbons and Formulations (which includes the specialty carbons and compounds and inkjet colorants product lines) and Metal Oxides (which includes the fumed metal oxides and aerogel product lines).

The Specialty Fluids business will now be a stand-alone reporting segment. Previously it was in the Advanced Technologies segment.

Finally, there was no change to the Purification Solutions segment, which includes the Cabot Norit Activated Carbon business.

January 20, 2015

ACEA: European passenger car registrations rose for 16th consecutive month in December

Filed under: Uncategorized — Notch @ 6:30 am

The European Automobile Manufacturers Association reported on Friday that passenger car registrations in the European Union (excluding Malta) rose for the 16th consecutive month in December 2014. Monthly sales were up 4.7% in December 2014 versus December 2013, while full-year sales for 2014 totaled 15,550,771, up 5.7% over 2013. This is the first increase in new car registrations in the EU since 2007 after six consecutive years of declines. The largest annual increases were in Spain (18.1%), the UK (9.3%), Italy (4.2%), and Germany (2.9%).

January 19, 2015

New report covers global market for rubber tackifiers

Filed under: General, Tackifiers — Notch @ 7:00 am

Notch Consulting is pleased to announce the publication of a new market research report, World Markets for Rubber Tackifiers, which provides a detailed analysis of the global market for tackifiers used in the tire and rubber industry. Tackifiers are adhesives used in the construction of tires and certain industrial rubber goods (belts, hoses) where multiple layers must be plied together and remain in place until the product is cured. This 36-page report includes 20 tables detailing rubber tackifier demand by type, market, and region, as well as pricing, industry developments, and market share by company for the total market as well as major segments. Tackifier demand is provided for all years from 2003 through 2013, with forecasts for all years from 2014 through 2020. Note: tackifer demand in this report excludes homogenizers, processing aids, compatibilizers, reinforcing resins, curing resins, and adhesion promoters, as well as all use of tackifiers outside of the tire and rubber sectors. Rubber tackifier types covered in this report are phenolics (including standard types [p-tert-octyl-phenol, or PTOP] and high performance types [p-tert-butyl-phenol]), hydrocarbon resins, rosin esters, and other types (coumarone-indene resins and terpenes). An overview of the report is provided here. Contact Notch Consulting at info@notchconsulting for more information or to order.

ERTMA: European tire sales up in 2014

Filed under: Tires — Notch @ 6:45 am

According to the latest data from the European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers’ Association (ERTMA), sales of consumer tires, truck and bus tires, and motorcycle tires all grew in 2014, while sales of agricultural tires declined year-over-year. This growth occurred despite a weak 4Q 2014 that saw unit declines in sales of consumer, truck/bus, and agricultural tires compared to 4Q 2013. In a January 14 press release, ERTMA said that the relatively weak sales during the fourth quarter may be linked to lower sales of winter tires due to the mild winters experienced on the continent for the last few years. However, this late-year weakness was offset by a stronger performance over the first half of the year.

Consumer tire sales grew 2% from 192.8 million units in 2013 to 197.0 million units in 2014, despite a very weak fourth quarter of 2014 that saw unit sales down 9% compared to 4Q 2013. Truck and bus tire sales grew 4% from 8.8 million units in 2013 to 9.2 million units in 2014, with 4Q 2014 sales down 2% compared to the same quarter of 2013. Ag tire sales fell 2% from 1.68 million units in 2013 to 1.64 million units in 2014, with 4Q 2014 sales down 11% versus 3Q 2013. Finally, motorcycle tire sales were up 6% from 7.9 million units in 2013 to 8.4 million units in 2014, with 4Q 2014 sales up 2% versus 4Q 2013.

 

January 1, 2015

Happy New Year!

Filed under: General — Notch @ 1:36 pm

Happy-New-Year-hd-wallpaper-2015-Greeting

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