Lanxess converting Brazil SBR plant

Synthetic rubber (SR) producer Lanxess A.G. plans to convert its Triunfo, Brazil, SR plant to solution styrene butadiene rubber (S-SBR) — the type used in reduced rolling resistance consumer tires — from emulsion-style SBR.
Lanxess will invest $104 million to convert the plant over the coming 20 months. The plant's annual capacity of 110,000 metric tons will be converted completely to S-SBR, Lanxess said.
The company will continue to supply the Brazilian market with E-SBR from a second plant in the Rio de Janeiro area. E-SBR is used mainly in the manufacturing and retreading of truck tires.
Lanxess said global demand for polymers for "green" tires—including S-SBR and neodymium-based butadiene rubber (Nd-PBR)—is growing roughly 10 percent per year through 2017 as the middle class becomes more affluent in emerging markets and tire fuel-efficiency labeling become more prevalent.
"We want to provide our customers with the best technology they deserve in order to fulfill their expansion plans in this important market," Lanxess Board Member Werner Breuers said.
Up to 500 temporary workers will be needed during the conversion phase, which should be completed by year-end 2014.
In the past two years, Lanxess has increased its global capacities for the high-performance rubbers S-SBR and Nd-PBR by 70,000 metric tons per annum and broke ground on a $260 million world-scale Nd-PBR plant in Singapore.