Arlanxeo breaks ground on new HNBR plant in China

The Hague, The Netherlands – Synthetic rubber maker Arlanxeo has broken ground on a new hydrogenated nitrile butadiene rubber (HNBR) plant in Changzhou, China.

Located next to Arlanxeo’s Changzhou EPDM plant, the new facility will have a nameplate capacity to produce 5 kilotonnes per annum (ktpa) of Therban-branded rubber.

The first phase of construction will allow for the production of 2.5ktpa, and is scheduled for production in the third quarter of 2025.

The new facility will serve customers in China and globally, as demand for advanced synthetic rubber products continues to grow, said Stephan van Santbrink, CEO, Arlanxeo.

In particular, demand for the HNBR is growing in emerging applications in new energy, new mobility, and other rapidly expanding sectors, added Hong Sun, managing director, Arlanxeo China.

Arlanxeo has made a number of investments in its HNBR capacity in recent years, having most recently upgraded facilities in Germany and the US to increase supply.

Last November, the Dutch-based company said it was debottlenecking its HNBR facilities in Leverkusen, Germany and Orange, Texas by the yearend.

Once completed, the upgrades were expected to add "close to 1,000 tonnes" of new capacity for the HNBR grades.

In 2022, Arlanxeo completed a debottlenecking project at its Leverkusen plant to add 10% capacity for the high-end elastomer at the site.

HNBR is widely used in automotive/new-mobility, oil & gas, mechanical engineering, and aerospace applications, the supplier pointed out.