By Kim Yoo-chul
Korea Kumho Petrochemcial (KKPC), the biggest producer of synthetic rubber in Asia, said it will invest more in the business. It aims to eventually overtake market leaders like Lanxess of Germany and China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) in the quickly-growing sector.
The company plans to raise the annual production of its advanced solution styrene butadiene rubber (S-SBR) to 184,000 tons by the end of 2014 from this year’s estimated 24,000 tons. That would enable the company to enter the global top 10 in production.
The rubber is used broadly in shoes, tires and machinery and also next-generation products like high-efficiency tires.
``KKPC had planned to boost S-SBR’s annual capacity to 180,000 tons by the end of 2015, however, we’ve changed our schedule as bigger rivals including Lanxess and Sinope are spending more on advanced synthetic rubbers,’’ said KKPC spokesman Chang Yun-seok.
Chang said the updated investment plan comes after the so-called ``tire labeling’’ for passenger cars and light trucks will take effect from November this year from Europe.
This new regulation will bring a major advance in consumer information on tire safety and the tire’s impact on the environment (rolling resistance and external noise), according to Chang.
The global demand for S-SBR was worth 4.5 trillion won and the total demand is expected to reach 7.5 trillion won by the end of 2020 with an annual average growth rate of 6 percent.
``Our affiliate Kumho Polychem is also currently geared toward boosting the annual production of EPDM rubber to 250,000 tons by the end of 2014. We are being aggressive in synthetic rubbers,’’ said Chang.
EPDM stands for ethylene propylene diene monomer (M-class) rubber, a type of synthetic rubber.