Lanxess AG, a German specialty chemicals company, has inaugurated its new €400 million ($522.83 million) butyl rubber plant on Jurong Island in Singapore.
Sprawling over 150,000 square metres plot, the new facility was engineered and constructed by Foster Wheeler Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd. The premises have been leased from the JTC Corporation, a Statutory Board under the Singapore Ministry of Trade and Industry.
The new plant has a capacity to produce 100,000 tons of butyl rubber. The state-of-the-art facility will manufacture both halobutyl rubber, as well as regular butyl rubber. The project will create 160 jobs in the region.
The company has commenced operations at the new plant in the first quarter of 2013, and plans to ramp up the production gradually. The company anticipates commencing commercial production in the third quarter of 2013, and expects achieving full capacity in 2015.
Lanxess is engaged in the development, manufacture, and sale of plastics, rubber, specialty chemicals and intermediates across the world. The company operates in three segments: Performance Polymers, Advanced Intermediates, and Performance Chemicals.