Styron Buys German S-SBR Capacity From Japanese Partner

Styrenics producer Styron has bought the 50% production capacity rights held by Japanese producer Japan Synthetic Rubber (JSR) in one of the Swiss-based company's eight production trains for styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) trains at Schkopau, Germany.

The deal, which adds 25,000 t/y of capacity for the rubber specialty solution styrene butadiene rubber (S-SBR) sold to the global tire industry, will effectively double capacity of one of the trains with effect from April. Total SBR capability at the former Dow Chemical complex in eastern Germany is 350,000 t/y.

Building on the success of the third S-SBR train in Schkopau it brought online in 2012, Styron said it is "uniquely positioned to capitalize on this expansion opportunity, which is strongly in line with its rubber business growth strategy and is a cost-effective solution to meeting customer demand."

Styron's business director for rubber, Francesca Reverberi, said the buyout of the Japanese partner will allow it to react faster to customers' needs while at the same time leveraging the production line to produce next-generation grades.

JSR obtained the rights to 30,000 t/y of S-SBR from Styron Europe (formerly Dow Europe) in 2007 and began selling products made in Japan as well as at Schkopau to the European tire market. In November 2013, it established an S-SBR manufacturing joint venture in Hungary with oil and gas giant Mol.  Because of this, the company said it has decided that the "most appropriate course of action" would be to consolidate its European production capacity within the new partnership.