MOL Group in Hungarian synthetic rubber JV with JSR Corp.

ERJ staff report (RH)

Hungarian oil and gas producer MOL Group has signed a joint venture deal with Japan’s JSR Corporation to launch a 60,000 tpa synthetic rubber plant in Hungary in 2017, reports Richard Higgs.

Under the agreement, the S-SBR (solution styrene-butadiene rubber) facility at Tiszaújváros will be supplied with raw material from the local butadiene plant of MOL subsidiary TVK. This 130,000 tpa unit will start in 2015.

The joint enterprise, with JSR Corp. taking a 51 percent stake and MOL holding a 49 percent share, aims to supply synthetic rubber to major tire manufacturers with plants in Hungary. It will also serve tire producers in western Europe as well as expected growth in eastern Europe, Russia and Turkey.

“Besides the fact that MOL’s petrochemicals value chain will be expanded with this step, we are also strengthening the Hungarian industry, since world leading technology will operate in northern Hungary,” commented MOL Hungary’s chief operating officer Sándor Fasimon.

The synthetic rubber plant employing cutting edge Japanese technology is set to create more than 100 new jobs in the long term, according to MOL.

The Hungarian group operates five refineries and two petrochemicals plants, under integrated supply chain management, in Hungary, Slovakia, Croatia and Italy. It has operations in over 40 countries and employs more than 28,000 worldwide.