US performance materials and plastics company Trinseo marked the opening of its new pilot plant and solution-styrene-butadiene rubber (S-SBR) capacity expansion at Schkopau, Germany. The production expansion adds 50,000 t/y of S-SBR capacity at the site and increases the company’s global production by 33%.

Trinseo said the growth was driven by increasing global demand for S-SBR as well as the need to ensure faster innovation cycles for the performance tire market. Most of the firm's S-SBR production goes into the tire industry, which is continually improving in the areas of speed, innovation and reliability.

“With this plant, Trinseo has the ability to react faster to customer demands and enable them to become technological leaders,” said Hayati Yarkadas, SVP and business president at Trinseo. “The new pilot plant and capacity expansion is consistent with our goal of increasing EBITDA by $100 million in our Latex Binders, Synthetic Rubber, and Performance Plastics segments from 2016 to 2019.”