Kumho Petrochemical starts up expanded SSBR capacity in Korea

Yeosu, South Korea – Kumho Petrochemical (KKPC) has completed a 35 kilotonne per annum (ktpa) expansion of solution styrene butadiene rubber (SSBR) capacity at its Yeosu complex in South Korea as part of a strategy to expand its portfolio of high-value-added products.

The South Korean supplier signalled the expansion in May 2025 and completed the investment during the fourth quarter of 2025, according to separate company disclosures.

The new facilities, which entered commercial operation during the first quarter of 2026, increases KKPC’s overall SSBR production capacity to 158ktpa, KKPC said in its latest results presentation in August.

The Korean group described the project as 35ktpa of flexible “SBS/SSBR combined-production capacity”.

The chemicals supplier linked the investment directly to the tire industry, saying it was carried out “in response to the expansion of the electric vehicle market and increased demand for high-performance tires.”

The project forms part of a broader strategy to increase KKPC's exposure to “higher-value synthetic rubbers.” 

Alongside the capacity investment, KKPC said it is focusing development work on next-generation materials including “RSM SSBR” and “bio-based SSBR” to respond to changing customer and market requirements.

In an earlier filing in March, the group also highlighted completion of a 200ktpa MDI expansion by Kumho Mitsui Chemicals and a 70ktpa EPDM expansion by Kumho Polychem.

KKPC said those projects, together with the Yeosu SSBR investment, were intended to strengthen the group's “business competitiveness and foundations for growth” amid difficult conditions in the wider petrochemicals industry.

In its latest first-half report, KKPC listed total synthetic rubber production capacity at 1.944 million tonnes/year, comprising 263ktpa SBR, 165ktpa HBR, 60ktpa NdBR, 50ktpa LBR, 158ktpa SSBR, 94ktpa NBR, 10ktpa HSR, 946ktpa NB latex, 85ktpa SB latex and 113ktpa SBS.

Kumho Polychem, meanwhile, listed production capacity of 310ktpa for EPDM and 12ktpa for TPV/KEPA, for total capacity of 322ktpa.