Connell Brothers partners with Lehigh Technologies in Japan and Korea

ERJ staff report (TP)

Georgia, US – Connell Brothers (CBC), the largest distributor of specialty chemicals and ingredients in Asia-Pacific, announced that it has partnered with Lehigh Technologies, a specialty materials company, to market Lehigh’s PolyDyne micronised rubber powders (MRP) to the tire and rubber industries in Japan and Korea.

After “initial success” in Japan, the two companies will focus on broadening industry outreach, supply chain efficiency and technical support in Japan, as well as introducing MRP to Korea and Southeast Asia.

Following two years of market development, MRP – produced from end-of-life tires and post-industrial rubber – has helped meet growing demand for affordable, high performance and sustainable raw materials in Japan, one of the world’s leading automotive markets.

“The Japanese tire and rubber industries have always shown clear demand for specialty materials that offer cost and environmental benefits,” said Azita Owlia, vice president for north Asia at CBC. “These materials also need to meet stringent performance criteria, given Japan’s best-in-class quality and safety standards for tire manufacturing. Lehigh’s PolyDyne MRP delivers all of these benefits, and we expect that the partnership will expand the MRP customer base in Japan. Encouraged by our success in Japan, we also expect to develop a market for PolyDyne in Korea, another leading automotive manufacturing hub in Asia.”

In recent years, many tire and rubber companies have implemented robust sustainability and waste reduction programs to address the end-of-life tires produced by the automotive industry each year. By transforming these end-of-life tires into new materials, MRP can help the automotive sector meet environmental goals without paying a premium for sustainability. Additionally, incorporating MRP into new tires provides crucial environmental benefits via energy savings and reducing virgin rubber consumption.

“With one of the largest automotive sectors in the world, Asia is an important market for MRP,” said Alan Barton, CEO of Lehigh Technologies. “Our MRP has already been used to make more than 250m tires globally, and our customer base includes six of the top 10 tire companies in the world.”

Connell Brothers currently provides marketing, sales, supply chain and technical support for Lehigh’s PolyDyne product in Japan. The company is deploying its technical knowledge and understanding of the products, applications, local regulations and culture of Japan to bridge the requirements of local downstream tire manufacturers and the products available from leading global suppliers.