Indonesian petrochemical firm gearing up for butadiene production

Indonesia’s PT Chandra Asri Petrochemical has outlined plans to diversify its production portfolio and enter the synthetic rubber sector through the construction of a new butadiene production facility – Indonesia’s first – in Banten Province. According to Mr. Suryandi, the company’s corporate secretary and investor relations director, the US$100 million facility will have a production capacity of up to 100,000 tons per annum and is expected to commence operations in the third quarter of 2013. Construction of the plant is anticipated to begin in the second quarter of this year.

Butadiene is used in the manufacture of synthetic butadiene rubber (SBR), both of which are currently imported into Indonesia. The new plant will extract butadiene from crude C4, a substance that Indonesia currently exports in an unrefined state to countries such as Japan, South Korea and Thailand. “We want to build it [the facility] because we see a big opportunity,” Suryandi commented. “If we can process the crude C4 it will have a high added value and we can reduce our imports.”