Two month delay for Zeon’s SSBR plant

Japan’s Zeon Chemicals says its new solution styrene-butadiene rubber plant in Singapore will now enter operation in September, two months behind its initial projected start-up date. The hold up has been attributed to the construction of a number of public service tunnels. Despite this delay, the company states the plant will run “flat-out” as of September.

In January 2011, Zeon Chemicals announced plans to construct a SSBR plant on Singapore’s Jurong Island in order to meet demand from tyre industry customers. The facility is designed to have a 30,000 to 40,000 tonne capacity in its first phase, and then to double this in the second phase. 

According to an article published by The Business Times Singapore, even though initial production has been delayed two months, work on phase two will begin next year. Zeon Chemicals’ Singapore managing director Yuki Hirakawa told the newspaper that the S$100 million (£52.7 million) expansion would come on stream in 2016.

Work on phase two of the Juron Island plant will go ahead as originally plant despite a slowdown in some tyre markets and SSBR overcapacity. Yoshimasa Fushimi, director of Zeon Corporation’s Elastomer business, told The Business Times Singapore that the company expects to see growth in the second half of the year despite the economic slowdown in Europe and China. “Demand for synthetic rubber to make more efficient, environment-friendly ‘green’ tyres also remains stable given the rise of tyre labelling in the European Union, Japan and the US. Even China is planning to do so,” he added.