Rubberbuy.com, a b2b e-commerce site, planned.

CONTRACTS, LICENSES

Lippincott & Peto, Akron, OH, publisher of Rubber World magazine and Rubber World Online (rubberworld.com), announced plans for the rubber industry's first major on line b2b e-commerce site, Rubberbuy.com. Rubberbuy.com will provide a global e-business marketplace for the rubber industry that will enable buyers and sellers of chemicals, materials, machinery and allied products and services to expand their business opportunities while gaining transaction, manufacturing and operating efficiencies previously unavailable, according to Lippincott & Peto. Rubberbuy.com will be corporate sponsored, and there will be no membership fee for buyers. Sellers will pay a fee or commission to Rubberbuy.com, which is scheduled to start later in the year. Corporate sponsors will find their ability to sell greatly enhanced through the effective coordination of print media and the internet, according to Lippincott & Peto. Further information on corporate sponsorships and other marketing opportunities on Rubberbuy.com is available from Dennis Kennelly or Chip Lippincott [phone]; [e-mail].

Six of the largest companies in the tire and rubber industry announced their intention to develop a global purchasing and procurement marketplace. RubberNetwork. corn, an independent company, will host a global exchange, which will include Continental, Cooper, Goodyear, Michelin, Pirelli and Sumitomo Rubber. The exchange will be open to all manufacturers and suppliers within the industry and is expected to be operating before the end of the year. The exchange will also welcome the opportunity to work closely with other exchanges, especially those associated with the automotive industry.

Leading elastomers industry suppliers including Bayer, CKWitco, DSM Elastomers, DuPont Dow Elastomers LLC, Flexsys, M.A. Hanna Rubber Compounding and Zeon Chemicals L.P. have signed a letter of intent to create www.ElastomerSolutions.com, a global neutral marketplace and customer-focused, web-based community devoted solely to the elastomers and associated products industry. The site is expected to launch in the third quarter of 2000. ElastomerSolutions.com will be an independent company with initial equity investors Bayer, CKWitco, DSM Elastomers, DuPont Dow Elastomers, Flexsys, M.A. Hanna Rubber Compounding and Zeon Chemicals. Discussions are underway with additional potential investors, including Advanced Elastomer Systems and Enichem S.p.A. Elastomers Division. The site will be open to all industry suppliers and customers. Initial business concept development is being led by Lante, a pioneer in developing electronic markets.

Dow Chemical, Midland, MI, and Penford, Bellevue, WA, announced that Penford has licensed its patented starch copolymer technology to Dow's emulsion polymers global business for coated paper and other applications.

The Troester-ESI, Ltd. joint venture between Troester Machinery, Ltd. of Cuyahoga Falls, OH and ESI-Extrusion Services of Akron, OH is starting the first U.S. manufactured microwave and hot-air curing system, which will be built at ESI's Akron plant and utilized in the joint venture's rubber extrusion laboratory. The extrusion lab, to be located at Troester's facility in Cuyahoga Falls, OH, will also incorporate a Troester 3-1/2" (90 mm), 20:1 cold feed rubber extruder, which can be run as vented or non-vented, a 12 kW microwave unit, 30 ft. (9 m) long multi-pass hot air curing oven, 30 ft. spray cooling tank and in-line cutoff saw for flexible or semi-rigid products. The lab equipment can support product runs of tubing and profiles. It will be utilized for customer demonstrations and is available for testing and development trials as well.

Preferred Rubber Compounding, Barberton, OH, and Gummiwerk Kraiburg GmbH signed a technical agreement that brings new options to the North American market in rubber compounding. The first strategic effort will be directed to the rubber roll market. Preferred Rubber Compounding develops and produces high quality organic rubber compounds in black and colors, while specializing in producing complex-process and high performance compounds.

Bridgestone, the parent company of Bridgestone/Firestone Europe and Bridgestone/Firestone, Nashville, TN, announced that the Bridgestone Potenza S-02A has been selected as the original equipment tire choice for Ferrari's newest high performance vehicle, the 360 Modena.

More than 1,100 Sears-owned tire outlets will begin selling Continental and General brand tires this spring, Continental General Tire announced.

Advanced Polymer Alloys, Wilmington, DE, a division of Ferro, announced that Waterloo Industries, Waterloo, IA, will use Alcryn MPR melt-processible rubber in the manufacturing of Sears Craftsman tool boxes. Alcryn MPR is used to provide the heavy duty boxes with rugged, soft-touch handles.

Goshen Rubber, Thermoplastics Division, Englewood, OH, and Applied Concepts, a division of Emerson Tool, have cooperatively developed an ergonomically advanced dead-blow hammer which will be sold through Home Depot stores. The dual-durometer, multi-colored handle is composed of Santoprene 8000 thermoplastic elastomer from Advanced Elastomer Systems. Goshen Rubber used a multi-station injection molding process incorporating robotics custom-made by SAS to produce the handles. To form the hammer handle, which is made in two versions to ergonomically fit the grip of a left or right handed user, Goshen first uses a polypropylene alloy to injection mold a rigid insert. Then, using a two-shot process, Santoprene 8000 TPE is overmolded onto the substrate.

Harwick Standard Distribution, Akron, OH, has established a principal relationship with Luxco Wax of Hayward, CA. Harwick Standard has a distribution agreement for Luxco's fully refined paraffin, microcrystalline, rubber, candle, curtain coating and specialty waxes within the U.S., as well as an option to export.

California Gasket and Rubber, Gardena, CA, has entered into a strategic partnership with Alliance Hose & Extrusions of Santa Fe Springs, CA. Plans for the future include relocation to larger facilities and a complete merger of both companies.

ReBase, Barrie, Ontario, Canada, has signed a product supply agreement with specialty compounder Mortile Industries Ltd., Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Mortile is to provide its Toronto-based compounding facility for Rebase's line of resin filler/additives and the WK-Max resin compound. Details and terms of the agreement have not been released.

Montell and its Asia-Pacific associates, Montell SDK Sunrise Ltd. of Japan and Taiwan Polypropylene Ltd. have finalized an agreement in which they will join Montell as partners in the new polypropylene joint venture company with Daelim Industrial. The new company, to be known as PolyMirae Ltd., is the result of a 50/50 polypropylene alliance announced by Montell and Daelim in November. Montell opted to share its 50% ownership with MSS and TPP following identification of significant opportunities for synergistic collaboration within the region. MSS will have the largest shareholding within the Montell Group, facilitating considerable opportunities for cooperation in the areas of supply optimization, technology, marketing and product development.

Columbian Chemicals, a manufacturer of engineered carbon blacks, has joined the Panel of Associates of the International Rubber Study Group. Columbian markets a wide range of blacks for the rubber, printing, paint and coatings and plastics industries. For the tire industry, Columbian's technology is said to assist in the development of extended tread life and better fuel economy.

DSM Elastomers Asia, a producer of EPDM synthetic rubber headquartered in Singapore, with manufacturing operations in Tokyo, has become the newest member of the International Institute of Synthetic Rubber Producers.

Dunleary, Towson, MD, a specialty chemical distribution company, has been awarded representation of the Laporte Pigments product line for coating and specialty applicatons markets throughout the southeast U.S.