BUDAPEST (Nov. 20, 2015) — Japan Synthetic Rubber Corp. (JSR) has formed a joint venture with Hungary's MOL Group to built a synthetic rubber plant in Hungary to serve European tire makers.
The companies disclosed plans this week to cooperate on the construction of a $150 million, 60,000 metric ton/year plant for solution styrene-butadiene rubber (S-SBR), the material used commonly in low rolling-resistance car tires.
The plant will be built near MOL's recently commissioned butadiene extraction unit in Tiszaujvaros, Hungary, which will supply raw materials to the 51/49 JSR/MOL joint venture, the parties said.
Locating the plant in Hungary provides the joint venture with a number of advantages, the partners said, including close proximity to dozens of tire plants in western and eastern Europe as well as in Russia and Turkey.
JSR and MOL disclosed plans for the JV two years ago but only recently brought the JV to reality following the commissioning of MOL's butadiene plant.