Upon completion in 2012, the company’s halogenated butyl rubber production capacity will become 80,000 tons per year, the company said.
Halogenated butyl rubber is mainly used in the radial tires of vehicles and demand has risen in recent years.
This expansion of production capacity follows an earlier production capacity increase in 2006 at its Kashima plant and is designed to respond to the rising demand centered in Asia for halogenated butyl rubber.
The company also completed an 18,000 tons-per-year production capacity increase of regular butyl rubber at its Kawasaki plant in October 2010, resulting in a total production capacity of 98,000 tons per year.
The company predicts to sell 80,000 tons per year of this 98,000 tons-per-year production capacity of regular butyl rubber as halogenated butyl rubber due to the production capacity increase at the Kashima plant.
