The Notch Blog

Birla Carbon has announced a restructuring of its carbon black operations, operating through three divisions: Asia, Americas & EMEA, and Specialty Materials. The Asia division will be responsible for the rubber blacks business in that region. Amit Kumar, currently Chief Manufacturing Officer, Asia, will be named President of the unit. The Americas & EMEA division will handle the rubber blacks business in those regions. John Davidson, currently Chief Sales & Marketing Officer,

The Asia Business Daily reports today that the Anti-Corruption Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency conducted a search and seizure of the headquarters of LD Carbon and other locations on May 26, 2026. As this blog has reported, LD Carbon recently filed a criminal complaint against its former chief executive and two senior finance officials alleging embezzlement and fraud. Police also raided the offices of Korea Environment Corporation, an agency under Ko

LD Carbon, a South Korean tire pyrolysis company, has filed a criminal complaint against its former chief executive and two senior finance officials, accusing them of embezzling corporate funds and misuse of government subsidies. The complaint was filed to the Suseo Police Station in Seoul and names former CEO Hwang Yong-kyung, CFO Lee Chung-jin, and Finance Manager Han Seung-yeon as suspects in an alleged scheme dating to 2022/2023. The charges involve unauthorized financial

Tire Business reports that Goodyear plans to shut down its tire plant in Fayetteville, NC by the end of 2027, a decision that will idle more than 2,000 workers. Details of the closure are still under negotiation with union officials. The plant opened in 1969 and has a capacity of 40,000 units per day of passenger car and light truck tires, according to TB data. Last year, Goodyear announced plans to transition the Danville, VA plant from commercial truck tires to the mixing a

European Rubber Journal reports today that Cabot plans to shut down its carbon black plant in Campana, Argentina and cease production on several lines at its carbon black plant in Botlek, Netherlands. Both plants produce both rubber blacks and specialty blacks. The moves, which were announced during the company's earnings call on May 6, are part of a strategic review following a sharp drop in earnings in the company's Reinforcement Materials business in Q2 FY26, which ended M