Air Treads.

Air Treads, the wholly-owned Goodyear subsidiary that handles global sales and marketing of the tire maker's aviation line, is consolidating production of the aircraft tires at two locations - Danville, VA and Bangkok, Thailand. Workers currently manufacturing new aircraft tires at Goodyear plants at Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg and Sao Paulo, Brazil will be reassigned to production of other tires at those plants. Tires produced at the Danville and Bangkok plants are used by global airlines, regional commuter and military fleets.

A new trade association has been formed by nine Akron, OH area companies to address the needs of the machinery industry. The Greater Akron Tire Equipment Manufacturers Association (GATEMA) will host a biennial trade show for equipment manufacturers. The shows will be held opposite years of the Rubber Division's shows. The nine charter members are Akron Standard, Micro-Poise, RJS, Kobelco Stewart Bolling, Karder Machine, Ball Corp., Rubber City Machinery, Monsanto and Machinery Exchange.

J.M. Huber's Engineered Carbons Division earned ISO 9002 quality certification at its Orange, TX carbon black plant. Huber expects its Borger, TX plant to be certified this year, and its plant in Baytown to be certified in 1993.

Milliken Chemical, a manufacturer and supplier of specialty chemicals and colorants based in Spartanburg, SC, earned registration under ISO 9001. The registration covers production facilities, development labs and sales and administration offices.

The Malaysian Rubber Research and Development Board has organized a group and is setting off on a mission to strengthen its position in regions recognized as important and growing markets for Malaysian natural rubber and related activities. The group is targeting Latin American countries with the purpose of encouraging and expanding trade between those countries and Malaysia. Stops include Buenos Aires, Argentina; Sao Paulo, Brazil; and Mexico City, Mexico - which collectively, the three countries represent the biggest consumers of natural rubber annually. It is estimated that the Latin American continent consumes about 300,000 metric tons of NR, and the three countries consume about two-thirds of that total. The markets for Malaysian natural rubber and related opportunities in these countries have not yet been fully exploited because of their distance from Malaysia.

The goals of the mission are:

* To promote greater export Malaysian natural rubber to Argentina, Brazil and Mexico;

* to find new markets for Malaysian latex concentrate;

* to publicize and disseminate information on the technical quality of Malaysian natural rubber; and

* to foster close trade relations and identify market and investment opportunities concerning rubber and related industries.

The mission is composed of the MRRDB and its units and members from the Ministry of Primary Industries. During their tour the group will hold discussions with government officials, traders and importers, rubber associations and major manufacturers, and will hold rubber technical seminars in each of the cities.