Closed for the holidays, stories you may have missed

The Rubber News offices will be closed Dec. 23 through Jan. 2 so our staff members can enjoy the holidays.

We will resume regular operations beginning Jan. 3

You may not see much news posted to the website during this break, but we will do our best to bring you breaking news stories.

We must express our utmost gratitude for our readers for sharing your stories and time with us this past year, and as we step into 2023, we wish you all a wonderful holiday season and a happy new year.

In the meantime, here's a look at 10 stories you may have missed before the end of 2022.

Continental Carbon Co., which has operated a tire tread-grade carbon black plant near the Alabama-Georgia border since the mid-1980s, was ordered to shutter the facility by the end of 2022.

According to a Dec. 8 letter from the Alabama Department of Environmental Management to Continental Carbon, the plant was ordered to cease operations for failing to institute plant upgrades (mandated by the U.S. EPA and Department of Justice in 2015) to meet U.S. EPA Clean Air Act standards.

Camarillo, Calif.-based Sanisure, a manufacturer of single-use bioprocessing technology, announced Dec. 20 that it is furthering its commitment to customers with the acquisition of Twinsburg, Ohio-based Medical Elastomer Development Inc. (MED), a silicone extruder, from Q Holding, a 3i portfolio company.

Mitsui Chemicals is watching demand surge for Tafmer elastomers. And as it does, the Japanese chemicals company is keeping an eye on another potential plant expansion.

The potential expansion comes at the heels of the recently disclosed Tafmer elastomers capacity investment in Singapore.

Materials firm Trinseo is taking steps to improve its finances, including closing a styrene monomer plant in Germany and an acrylic sheet plant in Mexico.

The company expects to incur between $79 million and $89 million of pre-tax, non-recurring charges related to the plant closures. Of this, $55 million to $61 million is expected to be incurred in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Continental A.G. says it is investigating a cyberattack on its operations in August, adding that it will take "several more weeks" to deal with the breach.

The company updated its probe into the event in a post on its website on Dec. 12, including a timeline of the attack and the aftermath, as well as information about the ongoing investigation.

Nokian Tyres P.L.C. struck a deal with China's Qingdao Sentury Tire Co. Ltd. for Qingdao to make Nokian-brand tires under contract in China to be sold in central Europe.

Nokian said it is designing the tires and testing tires to be manufactured under this agreement. Production is set to start in the first half of 2023, with the first tires scheduled to reach the market in the second half of the year.

After a year of precipitous decline in sales of medical gloves, Semperit A.G. Holding will sell its Sempermed business unit to Singapore-based Harps Global Pte. Ltd.

The transaction, valued at approximately $122.1 million and signed Dec. 16 in Vienna, is expected to be finalized in the second quarter of 2023.

Sur-Seal recently unveiled a new logo and launched a revamped website as part of its rebranding initiative, which comes in response to recent company and product line acquisitions. The company last year acquired Dover, N.H.-based Spectex and Charlotte, N.C.-based Mueller Custom Cut.

Despite facing "sluggish demand" in the third quarter, resulting in a dip in synthetic rubber sales and earnings, Korea Kumho Petrochemical Co. reported that it is on schedule to deliver a series of SR expansions at its production facilities in South Korea by the year-end.

The project will double Kumho Petrochemical's SSBR capacity to 123,000 metric tons.

German manufacturer of automotive fluid systems Tristone Flowtech Holding S.A.S. is planning to build a new production facility in the central Serbian city of Paracin, according to local authorities.

The Paracin municipal assembly gave the go-ahead with the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the city's mayor and the Frankfurt-based hose maker last month, according to a recent news release by the Paracin municipality.