Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. (Tokyo) announced that it has held the groundbreaking ceremony for a new plant to produce the high-performance elastomer Tafmer at its Singapore-based wholly owned subsidiary Mitsui Elastomers Singapore Pte Ltd (MELS). The ceremony was held on 28 July 2023. The new plant will be located on Jurong Island, Singapore and is designed for a production capacity of 120,000 tons per year, adding to the site’s existing capacity of 225,000 tons/yr. The project is scheduled for completion during fiscal 2024.
Tafmer is used both as a soft molding material and as a resin modifier that dramatically improves resin properties. Its flexibility and lightness have resulted in Tafmer being used across a wide range of fields, including solar cell components, packaging materials, engineering plastic modifiers, sports shoes and automotive parts.
Demand for Tafmer is set to remain strong as the global economy grows, and is expected to rise further on the back of efforts to achieve a circular economy by stepping up the introduction of clean energy. Via the supply of Tafmer, which meets these needs, Mitsui Chemicals aims to become a global solutions company that leads change and contributes to the sustainable societies of the future.