Major fire at Lotte Ube butadiene rubber plant

Kuala Lumpur - The Lotte Ube Synthetic Rubber (LUSR) butadiene rubber plant in Malaysia has been hit by a major fire on 24 Feb, former stakeholder Lotte Chemical Titan Holding Bhd has reported.

Efforts to contain the blaze at the plant located in Tanjung Langsat, Johor state were continuing overnight, according to local press reports.

LUSR was started as a JV between Lotte Chemical Corp. (40%), Lotte Chemical Titan Holding Sdn. Bhd. (10%), Ube Industries Ltd (40%) and Mitsubishi Corp. (10%).

However, Lotte Chemical Titan divested its 10% stake in LUSR in December 2021, the butadiene feedstock supplier pointed out in its 24 Feb statement about the fire.

At the time of its start-up in 2015, Ube Industries listed LUSR as its fourth butadiene rubber production facility, alongside units in Japan (126ktpa), Thailand (72ktpa), China (72ktpa).