Mitsui starts elastomer production in Singapore

SINGAPORE (April 18)—Mitsui Chemicals Inc. has started commercial production of Tafmer-brand ethylene-alpha olefin-based elastomers at its new 100,000 metric ton plant on Jurong Island, Singapore. The Singapore plant, operated by Mitsui Elastomers Singapore Pte. Ltd., is Mitsui's second plant for Tafmer elastomers, which principally are used to improve impact and tear strength of plastics, particularly in automotive uses such as polypropylene bumpers. The other plant, in Ichihara, Japan, has annual capacity of 70,000 tons, Mitsui said. About 40 percent of the output from the Jurong Island plant will be for the Japanese market, with another 30 percent destined for the rest of Asia, a Mitsui spokesman said. The remaining 30 percent will go to other regions, including the U.S. and Europe. Mitsui aims to meet rising demand for Tafmer products in Asia, which it said is being driven both by economic growth and increasing market sophistication.