Lanxess inaugurates butyl rubber plant in Singapaore

June 4: Lanxess AG has inaugurated its new butyl rubber plant on Jurong Island in Singapore on schedule. The company invested approximately Euro 400 million in the plant, which will have a capacity of 100,000 metric tonnes. The plant will produce premium halobutyl rubber, as well as regular butyl rubber. The company says it is the first butyl rubber manufacturer to have a wholly-owned global presence.

The Singapore facility joins existing butyl rubber plants in Sarnia, Canada, and Zwijndrecht, Belgium. This means that Lanxess has state-of-the-art facilities on three continents. The butyl rubber facility in Singapore went into operation in the first quarter of 2013 and is being ramped up gradually. Commercial production will start in the third quarter and full capacity is expected by 2015.

“This is the largest investment in the company’s history, and underlines the importance of Asia as a location for our synthetic rubber business,” said Axel C. Heitmann, chairman of the Board of Management. In April this year, Lanxess opened an applications center in Hong Kong which will work closely with its China and India (Jhagadia) facilities.

The butyl rubber market is expected to grow on average by five percent in the coming years, with the main driving force being mobility, above all in Asia. According to Lanxess, the tyre industry accounts for around three-quarters of sales at Lanxess’ butyl rubber business unit and over 50 percent of sales is generated in Asia. Key drivers of the business are expected to be sales of passenger cars in China and India that are expected to more than treble within the next 15 years due to a growing middle-class there. In addition, there is a clear trend towards the use of radials or tubeless tires for buses and trucks in India and China, two key markets in Asia. Modern radials require an inner liner made of halobutyl rubber, which helps keep tyre pressure constant for longer because of its impermeability to gases, thus saving fuel and reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

A new application for bromobutyl rubber, a type of halobutyl, is in the tread of tyres. It enhances tyre grip and the associated wet braking performance without compromising rolling resistance. Another use for halobutyl rubber is in pharmaceutical closures among other uses.

Lanxess has secured the long-term supply of isobutene, an important raw material for butyl rubber production, from a neighboring plant. The company has begun construction of a new facility for neodymium-based performance butadiene rubber (Nd-PBR) on Jurong Island last year. The direct proximity of these two plants, says Lanxess, creates valuable synergies through joint infrastructure and logistics. The Butyl Rubber business unit is part of LANXESS’ Performance Polymers segment, which recorded sales of Euro 5.2 billion in 2012.