South Africa’s synthetic rubber producer Karbochem has ceased all production. It will also stop all commercial activities at the end of May. No explanation of the closure was given.
Some say feedstock access could be the reason as Karbochem relies heavily on imports to meet its feedstock requirements.
According to IHS Markit data, the closure will result in South Africa’s styrene imports falling 60%.
The closure could translate into local buyers of synthetic rubber scrambling to source material because the number of domestic producers is limited.