Japan Butyl Co. Ltd. To Expand Production Capacity of Halogenated Butyl Rubber at Kashima Plant
12/20/2011
TOKYO - December 20, 2011 - Japan Butyl Co. Ltd (head office: Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture; president: Mitsunobu Koshiba), a fifty-fifty joint venture between JSR Corporation (head office: Minato-ku, Tokyo; president: Mitsunobu Koshiba) and Exxon Mobil Yugen Kaisha (head office: Minato-ku, Tokyo; president: P.P. Ducom) has decided to increase production capacity of halogenated butyl rubber at its Kashima plant by 10,000 tons per year. Upon completion in 2012, the company’s halogenated butyl rubber production capacity will become 80,000 tons per year.
Halogenated butyl rubber is mainly used in the radial tires of vehicles and demand has risen in recent years. In addition, the growing number of vehicle sales and vehicles owned in the Asia region, coupled with the increase in production of tires for repairs and new vehicles, is expected to result in continued expansion of the butyl rubber market.
This expansion of production capacity follows an earlier production capacity increase in 2006 at its Kashima plant and is designed to respond to the rising demand centered in Asia for halogenated butyl rubber. The company also completed an 18,000 tons-per-year production capacity increase of regular butyl rubber at its Kawasaki plant in October 2010, resulting in a total production capacity of 98,000 tons per year. The company predicts to sell 80,000 tons per year of this 98,000 tons-per-year production capacity of regular butyl rubber as halogenated butyl rubber due to the production capacity increase at the Kashima plant.
Halogenated butyl rubber is mainly used in the radial tires of vehicles and demand has risen in recent years. In addition, the growing number of vehicle sales and vehicles owned in the Asia region, coupled with the increase in production of tires for repairs and new vehicles, is expected to result in continued expansion of the butyl rubber market.
This expansion of production capacity follows an earlier production capacity increase in 2006 at its Kashima plant and is designed to respond to the rising demand centered in Asia for halogenated butyl rubber. The company also completed an 18,000 tons-per-year production capacity increase of regular butyl rubber at its Kawasaki plant in October 2010, resulting in a total production capacity of 98,000 tons per year. The company predicts to sell 80,000 tons per year of this 98,000 tons-per-year production capacity of regular butyl rubber as halogenated butyl rubber due to the production capacity increase at the Kashima plant.