Bridgestone may consume less rubber on slow US demand, Nomura says

ERJ staff report (BC)

Tokyo – Bridgestone Corp. (5108), the world’s largest tiremaker, may use 2.6 percent less rubber in the year to December than projected in February as demand in the U.S. will be slower than forecast, said a Nomura Holdings Inc. analyst to Aya Takada and Yasumasa Song of Bloomberg.

A decline in raw material costs and the Japanese currency mean the Tokyo-based company will still book a record profit this year even with weaker demand, Hisahiro Yamaoka at the equity research department said in an interview on 11 April.

His recommendations on equities returned 15 percent in the past year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Makoto Shiomi, a Bridgestone spokesman, said the tiremaker hasn’t changed any of its estimates.

Bridgestone said on 18 February that it would probably consume a record 1.93m tonnes of rubber for tire production globally this year, up 9.7 percent from last year. Yamaoka, who has covered the tire industry for almost six years, said consumption of natural and synthetic rubber may be 50 000 metric tonnes lower than the company projection.

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