Dow assessing need for more SBR capacity

NUREMBURG, Germany (Sept. 11)—Dow Chemical Co., a relatively recent entry into the SBR/polybutadiene field, is evaluating plans to add as much as 200,000 metric tons of annual capacity for the two materials, according to Andreas Mader, commercial leader of Dow Chemical´s global synthetic elastomers business. "All our plants (are) sold out," Mader said in an interview at the recent DKT 2000 conference and exhibition in Nuremburg. Dow is the third largest global SBR/BR supplier with annual capacity of 420,000 metric tons. "The next step is to globalize" to serve the needs of tire customers for global quoting on material of identical quality, the Dow executive said, adding that one thing it wants to avoid is "shipping rubber around the world." Dow´s SBR/BR capacity is almost entirely located in Europe.