ERJ: Players of the Week

1. Conti appoints Setzer as new leader
This week saw more announcements of ‘demand recovery’ by major rubber & tire players, as third quarter results continued to trickle in. But top slot goes to Continental’s new leader, Nikolai Setzer, who was appointed as the new CEO/executive board chairman on 12 Nov. The appointment came exactly two weeks after Continental announced the departure of its long-time leader Dr Elmar Degenhart on 29 Oct. Read more

2. Bridgestone revises up full-year forecast 
The effects of the ease on Covid lockdowns were clearly visible in the company results for the three months to end of September. Bridgestone increased its sales and operating profit estimates for the year 2020 due to a recovery in the business environment following the lifting of restrictions. Read more

3. Trinseo cautiously optimistic 
Similarly, Trinseo SA voiced cautious optimism that a continued recovery in the automotive, tire and medical industries during the three months, would persist in the remaining quarter of the year. Read more

4. Pirelli 'high-value' recovery 
Also on a roll, Pirelli reported a recovery in its high-value segment, which supplies premium and higher-rim-sized tires. Read more

5. China, North America drive Conti’s rubber division
While the automotive downturn severely impacted Continental AG’s results, the group’s Rubber Technologies division – both the tires and ContiTech segments – posted higher year-on-year profitability, helped by restructuring measures and lower raw materials. Read more

6. Cooper Standard cost-saving plan continues
Cuts continue at US automotive supplier Cooper Standard, which is soldiering on with an ongoing cost-saving plan and has identified a second technical centre to be closed by the end of the year. Read more

7. Enviro rCB for Trelleborg rubber compound 
On the sustainability front, Swedish entities Scandinavian Enviro Systems (Enviro) and Trelleborg Mixing Forsheda advanced their “long-term” collaboration with a new supplying deal for recovered carbon black (rCB) to be used for a ‘customer-specific’ rubber compound. Read more

8. Corrie MacColl aligns with GPSNR
Corrie MacColl, part of Singapore-based natural rubber supplier group Halcyon Agri, has reviewed its sustainable NR supply chain policy to entail the recently approved framework policy by the Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber (GPSNR). Read more

9. Covestro expanding elastomers production 
New capacity is always a good sign: German materials supplier Covestro AG is constructing a new production plant for high-performance elastomers in Thailand as demand continues to grow for the materials. Read more

10. Call for “burden moratorium” for German SMEs
Fighting the good fight,  German rubber industry association WDK joins a call for a “burden moratorium” for small- and medium-sized businesses amid pressures from a second Covid lockdown and a looming CO2 emissions fees. Read more

11. US slaps import duties on Korean ESBR
Trade trouble as the US Department of Commerce rules that South Korean exporters dumped emulsion-styrene-butadiene rubber (ESBR) in the US from September 2018 to August 2019, and are therefore subject to import duties. Read more