Japan Butyl Co. Ltd. completes Butyl Rubber capacity expansion at Kawasaki Plant
10/22/2010
TOKYO - 22 October 2010- Japan Butyl Co. Ltd. (Headquarters: Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa; President: Yoshinori Yoshida), a fifty-fifty joint venture between JSR Corporation (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President: Mitsunobu Koshiba) and ExxonMobil Yugen Kaisha (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President: P.P. Ducom), announced that the butyl rubber capacity expansion at its Kawasaki Plant has completed construction. The expansion, announced in May 2009, adds 18,000 tons per year of production capacity, bringing the plant's capacity to 98,000 tons per year.
Compared to other synthetic and natural rubbers, butyl rubber is a high performance synthetic rubber with excellent heat-resistant properties, and is impermeable to both air and gas. It is an important material in situations where high air tightness is a requirement, such as the inner tubes used in the manufacture of tires for automobiles, trucks, and buses, as well as the inner liners of tubeless tires. In addition, halogenated butyl rubber is mainly used in the radial tires of vehicles.
The growing number of vehicles in the Asia Pacific region, coupled with the increase in production of tires used in auto repairs, will likely result in greater demand for butyl rubber.
Helping to support the industry, the capacity expansion at the Kawasaki Plant is the second major expansion of butyl polymers in four years, following the 17,000 tons per year capacity addition at the Japan Butyl Co. Kashima Plant in 2006. That capacity addition brought the Kashima Plant's total capacity to 70,000 tons per year.
About Japan Butly Co. Ltd:
- Location:10-3 Ukishima-cho, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa-ken
- Represented by: Yoshinori Yoshida (Representative Director and Chairman, JSR Corporation)
- Established: 1967
- Capital: \3,168 million (Exxon Mobil Corporation 50%: JSR Corporation 50%)
About ExxonMobil Yugen Kaisha:
- Location: 1-8-15 Kounan, Minato-ku, Tokyo
- Represented by: P. P. Ducom
- Established: 1961
- Capital: \50 billion
About JSR Corporation:
- Location: 1-9-2, Higashi-Shinbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo
- Represented by: Mitsunobu Koshiba
- Established: 1957
- Capital: \23,320 million
Compared to other synthetic and natural rubbers, butyl rubber is a high performance synthetic rubber with excellent heat-resistant properties, and is impermeable to both air and gas. It is an important material in situations where high air tightness is a requirement, such as the inner tubes used in the manufacture of tires for automobiles, trucks, and buses, as well as the inner liners of tubeless tires. In addition, halogenated butyl rubber is mainly used in the radial tires of vehicles.
The growing number of vehicles in the Asia Pacific region, coupled with the increase in production of tires used in auto repairs, will likely result in greater demand for butyl rubber.
Helping to support the industry, the capacity expansion at the Kawasaki Plant is the second major expansion of butyl polymers in four years, following the 17,000 tons per year capacity addition at the Japan Butyl Co. Kashima Plant in 2006. That capacity addition brought the Kashima Plant's total capacity to 70,000 tons per year.
About Japan Butly Co. Ltd:
- Location:10-3 Ukishima-cho, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa-ken
- Represented by: Yoshinori Yoshida (Representative Director and Chairman, JSR Corporation)
- Established: 1967
- Capital: \3,168 million (Exxon Mobil Corporation 50%: JSR Corporation 50%)
About ExxonMobil Yugen Kaisha:
- Location: 1-8-15 Kounan, Minato-ku, Tokyo
- Represented by: P. P. Ducom
- Established: 1961
- Capital: \50 billion
About JSR Corporation:
- Location: 1-9-2, Higashi-Shinbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo
- Represented by: Mitsunobu Koshiba
- Established: 1957
- Capital: \23,320 million