Asia sees rising butyl rubber supply

ExxonMobil Chemical's affiliate ExxonMobil Yugen Kaisha (EMYK) announced that Japan Butyl Co. Ltd. has completed a major expansion to increase butyl rubber production capacity at its plant in Kawasaki, Japan. The expansion adds 18,000 tonnes annually of production capacity bringing the plant's total capacity to 98,000 tonnes each year. Japan Butyl Co., Ltd., a butyl rubber manufacturing company, is a joint venture of ExxonMobil Yugen Kaisha and JSR Kabushiki Kaisha. The company serves as a supply base for butyl rubber primarily in Asia. ExxonMobil Yugen Kaisha holds a 50% stake in Japan Butyl Co., Ltd. The additional capacity is part of the company's goal to supply quality butyl polymers for the rapidly growing Asia Pacific market and showcases ExxonMobil's advances in process technology. For example, these new proprietary technology advancements allow for the butyl polymerisation reaction, which normally occurs at -95℃, to operate at -75℃. This creates significant energy and capital investment savings. "These advancements are part of ExxonMobil Chemical's longstanding commitment to serve the growing butyl market," said Mr. Lyon, vice president, Global Butyl Polymers Business Unit, ExxonMobil Chemical Company. "Our goal is to continue being a reliable supplier of quality butyl polymers. This is particularly important for the Asia Pacific market, which is growing at a rapid rate." ExxonMobil Chemical has been involved in the development and application of premium butyl polymers that add value through enhanced product performance in areas such as energy efficiency, longer product life and greenhouse gas emission reduction. Continuing to address the growth needs of the butyl rubber industry, the Japan Butyl Co. Ltd. expansion is the latest of several recent company expansions to serve the growing butyl market. In 2008, ExxonMobil expanded halobutyl capacity at its Texas plant by 60%. This was preceded by the 2006 expansion of Japan Butyl Co., Ltd.'s halobutyl capacity at its Kashima plant by 17,000 tonnes per year. ExxonMobil Chemical's technology has passed stringent tests and trials. Stable, efficient plant operations, significantly higher production capability with existing reactors and refrigeration compressors and equivalent product properties and performance were amongst the key success criteria evaluated prior to the commercialisation of its technology. Butyl, also known as Isobutylene-isoprene (IIR), is a synthetic rubber developed in the 1940's. Its exceptionally low gas permeability and low resilience render it ideal for a host of applications. Butyl rubber offers superior inflation pressure retention to natural rubber and has better heat resistance, tear strength and ageing resistance. This combination makes it a good choice for stringent operating conditions such as long distance travel at high operating speeds and heavy payloads under difficult weather and temperature conditions. Butyl rubbers from ExxonMobil Chemical combine the barrier properties, high damping and resistance to ozone that make them ideal for tyre applications including the innerliner, non-staining black sidewall, white sidewall and white sidewall coverstrip. Innertubes with Exxon butyl rubber or Exxon chlorobutyl rubber provides numerous benefits to the users of bicycle tyres, radial truck tube-type tyres and some severe service, off-road tyre applications as this has longer tyre life and move-even wear performance with consistent inflation pressure leading to less fuel consumption.Air Zoom Vomero 12