Zeon set to resume operations at synthetic rubber plant

Tokyo – Zeon Corp. is set to resume operations at its synthetic rubber manufacturing plant in Tokuyama, Japan, following a two-week halt.

In a statement 27 Jan, Zeon said it is resuming production at the plant 1 Feb and that preparations have been completed for the restart.

The Japanese manufacturer said it had scheduled a date for resuming product shipments for each product at the facility, noting that units at the site are being restarted in sequence.

The Tokyo-based group suspended the activities of the Tokuyama plant on 15 Jan after finding iron rust debris at the site.

Zeon said its investigations showed that the debris were from a temporary chimney  that had been installed to reinforce the existing chimney and to be used as discharge stack.

Zeon said it believed the iron rust was formed due to the type of material that was used for the discharge stack.

Located in Shunan City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, the factory is described by Zeon as the group's “main” synthetic rubber manufacturing plant.

Currently, the unit produces general-purpose rubbers for tires and resin modifiers, speciality rubber for automotive parts as well as latex for gloves and other applications.

The facility also produces latexes, polymerised toner and single-walled carbon nanotube.

According to Zeon, about half of the synthetic rubber produced at the plant is exported to Europe, America, and Asia.