JSR to resume production at Kashima by mid-April - but not EPDM

ERJ staff report (DS)

Kashima, Japan -- JSR Corp has said it is bringing forward plans to partially re-start production at its Kashima plant and now hopes to have some production by mid-April. Production of ethylene propylene rubber is unlikely to start by that date.

Operations at the Kashima Plant have been stopped since the 11 March earthquake. JSR has completed a physical inspection and has begun preparations for a partial-restart. In a 6 April statement, JSR said, "Supplies of some utilities, such as steam, are expected to resume operation in a few days and we are stepping up preparations for partially resuming production around mid-April by utilising raw materials in our inventory."

The statement continued, "In regards to EP rubber (ethylene propylene rubber), which had a tight demand and supply balance even before the earthquake happened, we have no prospect of securing the raw materials required for production at this moment. We are under preparations and expect to start manufacturing once we secure raw materials."

JSR also referred to its Chiba plant in the statement: " The manufacturing facilities at the Chiba Plant are under normal operations as previously reported. We expect the production of performance chemicals will be back to normal conditions in late April. This process has been slowed down due to supply limitations of raw materials."

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Press release from JSR Corp