Cariflex Starts Work on Singapore Latex Plant
Cariflex, a subsidiary of South Korea’s DL Chemical, has started building a polyisoprene latex plant on Jurong Island, Singapore. The plant, which Cariflex said will be the world’s largest and the first in Singapore for this type of latex, is expected to be operational by the second half of 2024.
"The full capacity potential of the Singapore plant will be delivered in two phases. The combined investment for the first phase and pre-investment of necessary infrastructures for the second phase is over $350 million,” said DL Chemical CEO Jong-Hyun Kim. “Pre-investing for the second phase will allow the additional capacity to rapidly and efficiently be made available in support of market growth.”
The Singapore plant will play a vital role in supplying customers in Southeast Asia, Cariflex added, noting that it has consistently upgraded, debottlenecked and expanded capacity at its other locations in Paulinia, Brazil, and Himeji, Japan.
Last year, Cariflex started up a new $50 million large-scale polyisoprene latex plant at Paulinia, doubling capacity at the site in order to meet strong demand from its medical and consumer product customers.
In March 2020, DL Chemical, part of DL Group, previously known as Daelim, bought Cariflex for $530 million from US specialty polymer and bio-based products manufacturer Kraton. In a subsequent deal that closed on Mar. 15, 2022, DL Chemical acquired Kraton as well, for about $2.5 billion.
Kraton said the merger enables it to strengthen its global presence by leveraging DL Chemical’s manufacturing capabilities and footprint in Asia, along with its financial strength.
Author: Elaine Burridge, Freelance Journalist
