9 Apr 2014
ERJ staff report (PR)
Horgen, Switzerland – Styron is to convert its nickel butadiene rubber (Ni-BR) production train in Schkopau, Germany to manufacture neodymium butadiene rubber (Nd-BR). The project should be completed by the fourth quarter of 2015, the company said 9 April.
The conversion is in response to increasing global demand for Nd-BR in green tires and ultra-high performance tires, said Styron, which also supplies solution styrene butadiene rubber (SSBR) for these applications.
Nd-BR is said to improve the wear, fatigue and groove-cracking resistance of tires and to increase rebound resilience. The material's lower heat build-up under dynamic stress can also increase energy efficiency by improving rolling resistance.
“The investment builds on the [addition] of the third SSBR train in Schkopau that we brought on-line in late 2012, as well as the expanded capacity we took over earlier this year,” Francesca Reverberi, Styron global business director for synthetic rubber, said in a press release.
Styron’s Schkopau production site currently hosts seven world-scale rubber trains that supply tire customers worldwide.
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