Hankook Tire, Kumho Tire and Nexen Tire are on the verge of collapse as their combined sales in the first half declined by more than KRW 1 trillion (USD 842 million) from a year earlier due to the protracted slowdown in the global automotive industry amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Along with the pandemic, the companies are each suffering from declining orders, owner family conflicts and labor disputes, casting a cloudy outlook on their profitability for the rest of this year.

Hartalega Holdings Bhd has commissioned four production lines at Plant 6 of its Next Generation Integrated Glove Manufacturing Complex (NGC) to accelerate its production capacity. The company said construction of the remaining lines is in the pipeline, with the construction of Plant 7 of the NGC also targeted to commence in late 2020.

Given the increased demand for its forklift tyre range, Rovince International Corp is investing in a two-fold capacity increase to its solid tyre manufacturing plant in Sri Lanka.

The polystyrene producers AmSty, Ineos Styrolution and Trinseo have signed a Joint Development Agreement (JDA) to jointly explore recycling options for polystyrene. According to the three partners, the companies are committed to a circular economy for polystyrene.

Twelve technology license packages have been awarded to international technology providers for advancing the front end engineering and design (FEED) progress by Duqm Refinery and Petrochemical Industries Company’s Duqm Petrochemical Project. At the heart of the project, the world scale mixed-feed steam cracker was awarded to Lummus Technology, as well as the natural gas liquids extraction and C4 block unit technologies including Butadiene, CDMtbe, and Butene-1 separation.

The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. announced on 11 September 2020 that it will build a new plant in India’s Special Projects Zone, Atchutapuram Industrial Park, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. According to the company, the facilities will expand the production capacity of ATG (Alliance Tire Group), a Yokohama Rubber Group company engaged in the manufacturing and sale of off-highway tyres, such as those used on agricultural and other equipment.

The Plastics Industry Association, producers of NPE: The Plastics Show, announced the opening of attendee registration for the industry’s largest trade show in the Americas.

In the tire industry, cobalt salts and resorcinol resins are commonly part of mixtures for steel cord adhesion. However, regarding sustainability, work safety and environmental issues, these compounds have been increasingly considered as critical in recent years. Within the scope of a joint research cooperation, Brüggemann and Allnex developed a product that allows the elimination of both cobalt and resorcinol from steel cord adhesion mixtures.

Borealis announced that it has successfully acquired a controlling stake in South Korean compounder DYM Solution Co. Ltd. The acquisition solidifies Borealis’ position as a partner of choice for global wire and cable customers, helping to meet the growing needs and requirements of the wire and cable industry today and in the future.

In response to the new report “Biodegradable and compostable plastics – challenges and opportunities” by the European Environment Agency (EEA), European Bioplastics (EUBP) highlighted the need to acknowledge successful precedents in the deployment of these innovative materials in collaboration with a receptive community of consumers. Unfortunately, several media outlets made use of a biased interpretation of the report to draw a distorted picture of biodegradable and compostable plastics.