JSR breaks ground on Thailand S-SBR plant

On 19 March, Japan’s JSR Corporation and its joint-venture partner Bangkok Synthetics Co., Ltd. held a groundbreaking ceremony for the Solution Polymerization Styrene-Butadiene Rubber (S-SBR) plant to be constructed by their company, JSR BST Elastomer Co., Ltd. (JBE). The Muang, Rayong Province-based plant is scheduled to enter operation in June 2013; the facility will be the first S-SBR manufacturing plant in Thailand.

Due to the molecular structure of S-SBR, the substance is valued for its processability and dynamic properties. S-SBR is utilised in fuel-efficient, high performance tyres, and in December 2011 JSR increased S-SBR manufacturing capacity at its Yokkaichi, Japan facility from 25,000 tons per annum to 60,000 tons. The company also possesses an S-SBR production base in Europe through its 30,000 tons per year capacity rights agreement with Styron Europe GmbH. The Thailand plant’s initial capacity of 50,000 tones of year will boost JSR’s global annual capacity to 140,000 tonnes per year. When second stage work at the plant is complete in 2015, the Thailand facility will be able to produce 100,000 tons of S-SBR per annum.

According to JSR, its S-SBR research was carried out with meet the conflicting priorities of low rolling resistance and high grip in mind, and the company says the rubber it has developed reduces friction-generated heat by 45 per cent in comparison with conventional SBR. This was achieved by changing the ends of the rubber molecules, making it easier for them to form connections, without changing the properties of the rubber itself. The material properties of the rubber influence gripping power, JSR explains.

Through the establishment of this new plant as its supply-point in Thailand, JSR aims to strengthen its global network and take advantage of Thailand’s broad automotive-industry economic base, convenience as a hub for export to Asia and large domestic market that includes large-scale tyre manufacturing plants. Furthermore, with the expansion of each of these supply hubs, JSR says it will acquire world-class production capacity and be able to provide stable supply to respond to the expansion of global demand. The joint-venture facility is 51 per cent owned by JSR and 49 per cent by Bangkok Synthetics.