Tosoh to plug CSM capacity gap

ERJ staff report (DS)

Tokyo-Tosoh Corp. is to increase substantially production capacity for its speciality-grade synthetic rubber Toso-CSM (chlorosulphonated polyethylene). The increase entails an investment in a new CSM production line at the Nanyo Complex, the company's main manufacturing facility, located in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. Construction is expected to begin in October 2009 and is slated for completion in August 2010. The ¥3 billion investment will raise the company's yearly CSM capacity to 8,500 metric tons and will make Tosoh the world's top manufacturer of CSM.

Tosoh said it was compelled to select the largest-possible capacity increase for Toso-CSM in an attempt to stabilise the global supply structure in a market thrown into turmoil when the only other major manufacturer of CSM announced its withdrawal from the business earlier in 2009. The company's new production line is expected to fill the gap left by that withdrawal.

The move is part of Tosoh's strategy to transform its operations from commodity to higher-value functional polymers. Toso-CSM synthetic rubber can easily be pigmented to produce brilliant colors and is resistant to ozone, weather, oil, and chemicals. It is used in automobile and industrial hoses, in adhesives and coatings, in escalator railings, in linings for electrical and mechanical products, and in such consumer products as raincoats and boats.

DuPont Performance Elastomer announced in May 2009 that it would exit the business for CSM materials including its trade names of Hypalon and Acsium by the summer. DuPont later delayed the final ending of production until the third quarter of 2009.