DRAFT PULLED STORY Asahi Kasei planning SSBR expansion

Hanover, Germany  - Asahi Kasei is considering plans to expand its  production of solution styrene butadiene rubber (SSBR) in response to growing market demand, officials said at TTE expo in Hanover.

The expansion will likely involve a major debottlenecking of the company's dedicated SSBR facility in Singapore, which has a current output rating of 100 kilotonnes per annum (ktpa).

A 20-30% capacity expansion of the continuous polymerisation facility is a “realistic target”, a company spokesman said in Germany.

The Singapore unit, which was opened in 2013, is one of three Asahi synthetic rubber production facilities.

Asahi also operates two plants in Japan: a 101ktpa continuous facility in Kawasaki and a 35ktpa batch unit in Oita.

Both Japanese facilities produce SSBR, butadiene rubber and elastomers – styrene-butadiene and hydrogenated styrene butadiene block copolymers.

Read further details of current developments within Asahi's SR business in the March/April issue of European Rubber Journal magazine