Isobutylene shortage forces Lanxess to reduce butyl rubber output

Leverkusen, Germany - Lanxess has had to cut back the production of butyl rubber at its Sarnia, Canada, site since the end of December 2005, and is now issuing force majeure notices to its customers in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Asia and South America. Lanxess blamed the situation on continuing lack of deliveries from its major raw material supplier Nova Chemicals (Canada) Ltd.

Nova operates a flexi-cracker in Corunna, Ontario, which produces isoprene monomer and isobutylene, both used to make butyl rubber -- which has the chemical name of isobutylene-isoprene rubber, or IIR. A Lanxess spokesman declined to confirm or deny that the raw materials concerned are isobutylene and isoprene.

Lanxess said the force majeure notices will continue until Nova Chemicals is able to supply sufficient raw material volumes. Based on current information from Nova Chemicals, Lanxess expects this to last at least until the second half of January.

Nova Chemicals issued a force majeure notice to Lanxess in October 2005 regarding the supply of raw materials after problems arose in connection with maintenance and modernisation work at their Corunna, Canada plant, and has extended this notice several times. Lanxess' raw material inventories were used up at the end of December 2005. The company has since been maintaining limited production by using raw material from its other supplier and buying available raw material quantities in the market.

Lanxess' Butyl Rubber Business Unit also operates a second production facility in Antwerp, Belgium, which continues to operate at full capacity owing to the high demand for butyl rubber.

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Press release from Lanxess

Website of Nova Chemicals

Encyclopedia Britannica article on butyl rubber)