TOKYO—The solution styrene-butadiene rubber joint venture business between Zeon Corp. and Sumitomo Chemical is set to start operation on April 3, the Japanese companies said.
Kei Itoh of Zeon will be the president and Sumitomo Chemical's Masahiro Fukuyama will serve as vice president at the Tokyo-based JV, ZS Elastomers Co. Ltd.
ZSE will consolidate the two companies' sales and R&D functions of their SSBR businesses.
Outside Japan, ZSE is also to handle products manufactured by each company's relevant subsidiaries in Singapore.
Zeon holds a 60 percent share in the JV while Sumitomo Chemical owns the remaining 40 percent.