Mesnac Co., Ltd. (Mesnac), a Chinese rubber and machinery manufacturing group, announced its rubber wet-mixing production plant in Qingdao is set for 2023 commissioning; the plant is to produce nearly 300,00 metric tonnes of chemically mixed compounds (EVEC) to support the production of 120 million passenger car tyres per year.
According to Mesnac, the EVEC compound allows liquid rubber produced by upstream rubber companies to be directly used in the chemical mixing process “without the need for cohesion and post-treatment.”
The “liquid gold” compound also can help downstream tyre makers avoid multi-stage mixing, raise abrasion resistance by up to 40% and lower rolling resistance by 30% to “markedly boost” tyre performance.
Mesnac said tyres produced with the compounds could meet EU tyre label’s Class A standards in wet grip and meet Class B standards in rolling resistance.
The project is expected to sell US$1.5 billion worth of the EVEC rubber material annually when fully on-stream.