2Q 2014

The Akron Journal

Meet Yingying Jiang
Material Scientist, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.

Yingying J iang is a material scientist for The Goodyear Tire and Rubber
Company in Akron, OH. Goodyear is a main customer for SRC, as we have
fifteen carbon black codes that have been approved by Goodyear globally.

Yingying began her career at Goodyear in Akron, OH right after graduating

from The University of Texas at Austin with a doctorate degree in Chemical
Engineering, one of the top ChE programs in the US. Yingying joined
Goodyear in October 2012 as a material scientist.

Her current responsibilities include carbon black new source approval, new
carbon black development, and supporting all Goodyear plants with carbon
black issues. Working with suppliers and being the liaison between
Goodyear and the suppliers is another one of Yingyings main
responsibilities.

In her free time, Yingying enjoys piano, running, and traveling with her
husband, Leandro Forciniti. Her husband is a fellow doctoral student from
UT who is also working for Goodyear. Yingying and Leandro have been
married since November 2013.


Although the final location was not specified,
Goodyear joined the list of companies that will
build a new grass roots plant in North America or
Latin America. Goodyear will spend $500 million
on the new plant, which is needed to meet the
growing demand for high performance tires.
Sherry Ullom Retires

It was a sad day in Akron when Sherry Ullom retired from her
position as Senior Customer Service Representative on May
30. Sherry was loved and deeply respected by her co-workers
and customers. She brought a smile to everyones face.
Sherry and her husband J im, who also retired the same month,
plan to do some hiking, kayaking, ride bikes, and tour the
national parks.


The Giti Tire Group, a Chinese tire
manufacturer, recently made the news with the
announcement of another grass roots tire plant
in North America. Giti will build their plant in
Chester, SC with a production capacity of 5
million tires per year, when fully completed. The
cost of the project was reported at $560 million.




























































































HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C.The U.S. tire industry will start seeing shortages of carbon black
as early as 2016 if current projections hold steady, according to a speaker at the 30th annual
Clemson University Tire Industry Conference at Hilton Head April 23-25.

Furthermore, pending Environmental Protection Agency regulations could cause both increased
costs and shuttered U.S. capacity within the carbon black industry, said Gregory King, vice
president of marketing for Sid Richardson Carbon Co.

King based his projections on both the analysis and market model by Simon-Kucher & Partners
and the capacity and demand estimates made by Notch Consulting Group. Currently, carbon
black nameplate manufacturing capacity in the U.S. and Mexico stands at 4.63 billion pounds
per year, he said.

However, EPA efforts to control sulfur oxide and nitrogen oxide emissions from U.S. carbon
black facilities will cause domestic capacity to fall to 4.11 billion pounds by 2020, according to
King. Projected demand for that year points to a production shortage of 465 million pounds in
that year, he said.

There will be a shortage of carbon black starting in 2016, provided that everyone's expansion
plans for tire production go forward as assumed, King said. Starting in 2016, we're going to be
out of balance.

Among U.S. carbon black producers, Cabot Corp. already has settled with the EPA, he said.
Cabot has agreed to invest approximately $90 million in two U.S. carbon black plants, and to
reduce sulfur oxide and nitrogen oxide emissions in the U.S. by 80 to 90 percent, he said. The
company will spend the next several years executing the agreement.

Sid Richardson and other U.S. carbon black makers are cooperating willingly with the EPA in
discussions on how to cut emissions, King said. We all want to do the right thing.

While there are many ways to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide, those
carbon black makers that can close U.S. plants in favor of importssuch as Cabotwill do so,
according to King.

For Sid Richardson, closing U.S. plants is not an option, he said. But the company will face
some difficulties in achieving the emissions reductions the EPA wants, he said.

Controlling sulfur oxide emissions is a matter of installing wet scrubbers, King said. We have
two plants in West Texas, and we're not sure we can get enough water there to absorb all
emissions. Maybe we could consider air preheating or other options, or find ways to use less
oil.

In any case, the industry can expect an increase in production costs because of the operating
cost components over and above the capital costs, he said.

Expect China to take up the slack in carbon black production left by the U.S., according to King.

There are about 100 carbon black producers in China, he said. Some are mom-and-pop
operations and produce carbon black of very bad quality. But all the major players have plants in
China, and there is good carbon black made there too.

China's expansion into the U.S. and world carbon black markets will be largely price-driven, King
said.

China has a huge price advantage on us, he said. Because China owns its steel market, it can
take the coal tar from those plants and make carbon black. The result, he said, is Chinese
carbon black that costs $8 to $10 less per barrel than U.S. carbon black.

They can eat the freight costs and still lead the market, King said.

India and Russia are growing steadily in carbon black production, according to King. Russia has
just completed an enormous carbon black plant in Omsk, from which it apparently plans to flood
the European market, he said.
Greg King, VP of Marketing
for Sid Richardson Carbon
Co., said the U.S. could face
a shortage in carbon black.
King spoke during the
Clemson University Tire
Industry Conference.