TOKYO—Showa Denko K.K. is raising the prices of its chloroprene rubber, effective May 16.
The price adjustment will be by about $470 per metric ton "or more," the supplier said in an April 27 news release.
Marketed under trade name of Showa Denko Chloroprene, the synthetic rubber material has features such as oil resistance, thermal resistance, weather resistance and incombustibility.
Showa Denko Chloroprene's fluid latex products are used for applications including medical instruments, adhesives, and waterproofing agents.
Solid dry-tip products are used for automotive parts, construction and industrial applications.
The Japanese supplier said the price hike is due to a "severe" business environment as raw material and electricity prices increase due to surging fuel prices.
"SDK has been making (an) effort to reduce production costs of chloroprene through streamlining of production process," the company said.
"This time, however, we concluded that the company needs to raise prices of chloroprene in order to ensure stable supply of our products," it concluded.
