JSR, MOL to build joint venture S-SBR plant in Hungary

Groundwork begins this month on a new 60,000 ton per annum S-SBR plant destined to supply synthetic rubber to tyre industry customers. Construction of the new plant begins in the first quarter of next year at the MOL Petrochemicals site in Tiszaújváros, Hungary and the facility is a 51/49 per cent joint venture between Japan’s JSR Corporation and Hungary’s MOL Group. It is expected that the plant’s mechanical completion will take place within 2017.

“The partnership with JSR provides MOL Group with the possibility to further expand its petrochemical product portfolio along the value chain, as a stable supply of feedstock material to the new plant will be secured from the butadiene extraction unit,” commented MOL in a statement.

The MOL Group’s new butadiene extraction unit in Tiszaújváros, which will produce feedstock material for synthetic rubber, was inaugurated on 10 November. Full commercial operations are expected to begin in the current quarter. Building and setting up the new unit has to-date required capital expenditures of around US$150 million.