China's Black Cat starts construction work on €88m reinforced rubber facility

Shenzhen, China – Chinese carbon black major Jiangxi Black Cat Carbon Black Co. has started construction work on a Yuan688 million (€88 million) project to scale up a new technology to produce rubber composite masterbatches.

Black Cat subsidiary Liaoning Heimao Composite New Material Technology broke ground on the project 13 June to produce “carbon material/rubber composite masterbatch,” the group said in a statement.

The plant will have a capacity to produce 160 kilotonnes per annum (ktpa) of the material, which is manufactured through combining natural rubber with the company's carbon black using a wet-mixing technology.

As previously reported by ERJ, the project is based on a joint research completed between Black Cat and a research team from a “well-known local university” in 2022.

As part of the R&D project, the developers built and brought into operation a 4ktpa pilot production line in Qingdao in October 2022. 

The wet-mixing technology, according to Black Cat, significantly improves dispersion of carbon black in rubber and improves overall performance of the masterbatch.

Furthermore, the process is also said to reduce hysteresis loss and rolling resistance, and enhance abrasion resistance of the masterbatch.

According to Black Cat, wet masterbatch has already been used in the production of off-road tires.

The company expects the products to be further used particularly in truck & bus tires and 'speciality' tires.