Chinese chemical group Befar has announced an integrated specialty rubber production project with a planned total capacity of 250,000 tons per year in the Beihai Economic Development Zone, Binzhou City, Shandong Province. According to a statement released by the company on July 17th, the project will be developed in two phases. The first phase, which has already received approval, includes the construction of a halobutyl rubber plant with a capacity of 70,000 tons per year. The second phase will be submitted to the authorities and executed according to market conditions. The plant will be built by the subsidiary Shandong Binhua New Materials Co. Ltd. and will require an investment of 1.82 billion yuan (approximately US$253 million). Construction is scheduled to begin by June 30, 2027, with an estimated completion time of 24 months. According to the company, the plant is designed to produce halobutyl rubber with the flexibility to switch between chlorobutyl and bromobutyl types, mainly used in the manufacture of tires, inner tubes, and other high-strength products. The project will use the existing integrated isobutylene unit, with a capacity of 100,000 tons per year, already in the industrial complex, as raw material. When operational, the new factory will consume approximately 63,700 tons of isobutylene annually and will allow the decommissioning of approximately 110,000 tons per year of MTBE (methyl tert-butyl ether) production capacity, a compound used in fuel formulation. The company estimates that the first phase of the project will generate annual revenue of approximately 1.14 billion yuan and net profit of approximately 104 million yuan when fully operational.
This text was translated by machine from Brazilian Portuguese.