Tokyo - The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., announced today that it will begin full-scale marketing of conveyor belts with specifications suitable to extremely cold climates. The new product launch is part of Yokohama's strategy for capturing demand from the natural resources development market. The natural resources development industry’s expansion into the world's coldest regions, such as the Arctic region, where mining work is extremely difficult, is increasing the need for conveyor belts that are able to stand up to the harsh conditions in these cold regions. Against this backdrop, Yokohama Rubber has been developing conveyor belts with specifications suitable to extremely cold climates. The Company developed a conveyor belt for use at oil sand mining sites in Canada. This conveyor belt has won praise for its superior cold and impact resistance, and Yokohama Rubber has now decided to launch global sales of the product under the brand name ICEGUARD AR. Negotiations are currently being held with potential users in cold regions around the world, and the Company expects to expand sales of the product in the future.

Oil sands are attracting attention as an alternative source of petroleum fuel. Yokohama Rubber's conveyor belts are being used at mining sites in Alberta, Canada, where winter temperatures fall as low as -40‒50°C. Such freezing temperatures reduce the elasticity of the rubber used in conveyor belts, making them prone to cracking and therefore requiring more frequent maintenance and eventually shortening the belts’ useful lifespan. To overcome this problem, Yokohama Rubber applied its superior rubber compounding technology to develop a conveyor belt with a fine balance of high cold resistance and impact resistance.

Yokohama Rubber is one of the world’s leading makers of heavy duty conveyor belts. The Company’s conveyor belts are widely used by companies engaged in the development of natural resources, such as coal and iron ore, at mining sites in many parts of the world, including North America, Latin America, Australia, and China. Many of these mining sites are located in harsh environments, such as mountains and deserts, and Yokohama Rubber’s conveyor belts ability to weather many years of use in such harsh environments has established their reputation as a highly reliable part of users’ conveyor systems. At present, Yokohama Rubber manufactures conveyor belts at two dedicated plants, one in Japan and the other in China.