Tire Technology Expo 2013 is being held this week (Feb 5-7) in Cologne. This really is one of the best conferences on the tire industry out there, with papers, training classes, and a huge trade show all rolled into one.
Notch Consulting will be moderating an all-day session on Wednesday (Feb 9) entitled “Raw Materials: Is There Enough and Will They Be Green.” It will feature 16 presentations related to this topic from people at the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries, Cabot, Cray Valley, Eastman Chemical, Iqesil, Lanxess, PPG Industries, Rhein Chemie Rheinau, Schill + Seilacher, and Umicore Specialty Materials. Unfortunately, my own paper was left off the program, but I will be presenting at 12:40 and my paper is entitled “Tire Industry Raw Materials Trends: Focus on Reinforcing Fillers.” The paper presents an overview of carbon black and precipitated silica, including current demand, future prospects, and leading suppliers. Also, I present a cost comparison of the two filler systems in passenger tire treads, which is their most intense area of competition, and a forecast for how much market share is likely to shift from carbon black to silica.
Day 2, Session 3 begins at 9:00 and concludes at 17:10 and will be held in Europasaal (L1 – Purple).
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