The 140,000 tonne/year plant will be built at a cost of €200m ($290m) on Jurong Island, next to LANXESS' new 100,000 tonne/year butyl rubber plant, which is currently under construction and is scheduled to come on stream in the first quarter of 2013, the firm said in a statement.
Neodymium polybutadiene rubber is part of a tyre's compound and reduces energy consumption more efficiently than many other tyre rubbers, according to the statement.
Construction of the 100,000 tonne/year butyl rubber plant is progressing according to schedule, it said.
The new neodymium polybutadiene rubber plant is expected to start up in the first half of 2015, the statement added.
Singapore was chosen as the site for the new neodymium polybutadiene rubber plant because of its excellent infrastructure, pool of highly skilled workforce, large sea port and close proximity to growth markets, said Ian Wood, managing director of LANXESS in Singapore.
LANXESS has signed an agreement with the Petrochemical Corporation of Singapore (PCS) on the long-term supply of butadiene feedstock via pipeline, it said.
Butadiene is the key raw material for the production of neodymium polybutadiene rubber.
PCS, at the same time, will receive raffinate II via pipeline from LANXESS’ upcoming butyl rubber plant, the statement said.
The neodymium polybutadiene rubber plant is aimed at capturing the demand for high-performance tyres in Asia, which is growing at 14% per year, LANXESS said.
"Demand is being driven by the megatrend [of] mobility as well as motorists calling for higher environmental and safety standards in performance tyres," it said.
Demand will also be boosted by legislation in the EU, which mandates that as of 2012 all new tyres sold in Europe have to be labelled for fuel efficiency, wet grip and external rolling noise, according to the statement.
Japanese tyre manufacturers have voluntarily introduced tyre labelling at the start of 2010 and the topic is under discussion in South Korea, it added.
The annual global demand for performance butadiene rubbers is estimated at 2.5m-3m tonnes, according to Joachim Grub, the global head of LANXESS' performance butadiene rubbers business unit.
About half of all demand for performance butadiene rubbers is currently coming from Asia, Grub added.
Apart from tyres, performance butadiene rubbers are used for the modification of plastics in the manufacture of high-impact polystyrene (HIPS) for injection-moulding applications, the statement said.
Other application areas include golf balls, running shoes and conveyor belts, it added.
Global producers of neodymium polybutadiene rubber include Russian producers Sibur and NizhnekamskNeftekhim as well as Poland's Synthos.
($1 = €0.69)
