Mitsubishi Corporation Partnership Sets Up First Synthetic Rubber Facility in Malaysia

In an effort to respond to the growing demand in Asia for poly-butadiene rubber (BR), Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) joined forces with Ube Industries, Ltd. (Ube Industries), Lotte Chemical Corporation (Lotte Chemical) and wholly owned Lotte Chemical subsidiary, Lotte Chemical Titan (Titan Chemical) on to set up a three-company joint venture for the manufacture and sale of BR.
Ube Industries and Lotte Chemical will each hold 40% of shares while MC and Titan Chemical will each hold 10% of shares in the new company. The joint venture will be set up as a production and distribution hub in the state of Johor, Malaysia. Operations are scheduled to start in 2014 with an annual production capacity of 50,000 tons. Production technology and licensing will be provided by Ube Industries, which will also build the production facilities, while butadiene feedstock will be supplied by Titan Chemical. The venture will keep a close eye on market trends as it seeks to increase annual production capacity by an additional 22,000 tons over the coming years.
The demand for BR is expected to see an annual growth rate of 6-7% in the near future, especially in Asia, which is already its largest market. BR consumers in general and large-scale tire suppliers in particular are therefore planning to expand their production capacity in the region.
With a focus on the growing Asian market, MC plans to take advantage of its vast global network to gain a deeper understanding of changes taking place in the business environment as well of customer needs. These efforts are expected to help improve the balance between demand and supply while at the same time contributing to economic development in Malaysia.