Japan: September Tire Rubber Use Up 5.2% From 2001

TOKYO, Oct 30, 2002 Reuters reported that the amount of rubber used to make tyres in Japan rose 5.2 percent in September from a year earlier to 105,624 tonnes, the Japan Automobile Tyre Manufacturers' Association said on Wednesday.

Tyres shipped domestically in September contained 59,516 tonnes of rubber, up 4.9 percent from a year earlier.

Exported tyres contained 45,314 tonnes, up 12.7 percent.

For the first nine months of this year, the amount of rubber used to make tyres in Japan jumped five percent from a year earlier to 871,230 tonnes.

For that period, tyres shipped domestically contained 443,750 tonnes of rubber, down 0.7 percent from a year earlier, while exported tyres contained 423,317 tonnes, up 12.8 percent.