JAPAN-based Ube Industries, Ltd. and Mitsubishi Corporation, and South Korea-based Lotte Chemical have formed a joint venture (JV) to manufacture and market butadiene rubber (BR) in Johor, Malaysia.
The JV will be licensed manufacturing technology from Ube, and will construct manufacturing facilities capable of producing 50,000 tonnes of BR annually.
Lotte Chemical will supply the JV with raw material butadiene, with production set to start in 2014.
Plans to add a further 22,000 tonnes of annual production capacity is also in the line up, basing on demand.
Ube maintains a global framework for BR production with plants in Japan, China, and Thailand. The annual production capacity in Chiba, Japan currently stands at 110,000 tonnes, with a capacity of 72,000 tonnes in Thailand and China respectively for a total capacity of 254,000 tonnes annually. The company also plans to add a further 16,000 tonnes of production capacity in Chiba, Japan in late 2013. Lotte Chemical maintains its own global framework for BD production with two plants in South Korea (Daesan and Yeosu) having an annual production capacity of 150,000 tonnes each, and a Group plant in Malaysia.