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By Mary Page Bailey | July 28, 2022
Cariflex Pte. Ltd. (Singapore), a wholly-owned subsidiary of DL Chemical Co. , opened a 6. 1-hectare plant on Jurong Island, Singapore. Cariflex will build the world’s largest polyisoprene latex plant and Singapore’s first in this Array. in medical and customer products, this investment represents the largest capacity expansion among Cariflex’s existing achievements.
Cariflex moved its headquarters to Singapore in 2020 as a wholly owned subsidiary of DL Chemical Co. , Ltd. DL Chemical Co. , Ltd is a global petrochemical company and DL Group, a global developer and the first Korean corporate structure established in 1939. DL Holdings is also the majority shareholder of DL E
“The full prospective capacity of the Singapore plant will be delivered in two phases. The combined investment for the first phase and the previous investment of the infrastructure needed for the current phase amounts to more than $350 million. The previous investment for the current phase will make it possible to have a temporary and successful greater capacity to help the growth of the market. It will also maintain Cariflex’s position as the leading supplier of polyisoprene latex with unprecedented quality and diversity of sources,” said Mr. Jong-Hyun Kim, President and CEO of DL Chemical Co. , Ltd.
Cariflex Polyisoprene Rubber Latex (Cariflex IR Latex) is a water-based artificial polymer latex suitable for a wide variety of high-level applications. Surgical gloves and condoms are the main finishing markets for which Cariflex™ IR Latex is used, due to its exclusive proposal as an alternative to herbal rubber latex.
The Singapore plant will play a pivotal role in the versatility of Cariflex’s production to serve its consumers in Southeast Asia, home to the world’s leading condom and surgical glove production plants.
Over the past two decades, Cariflex has rapidly improved, ungainly and expanded the capacity of its existing production sites in Brazil and Japan to meet the developing volume desires of its consumers and the market. Cariflex effectively completed its last major expansion in 2021, doubling its polyisoprene latex capacity at the Paulinia plant in Brazil with a $50 million investment.
“We are strategically locating our new production facility here in Singapore, at the door of our key customers. We appreciate Singapore not only for its ability to foster a thriving monetary centre, but also for its commitment to creating hubs of innovation, industry and logistics. . With a highly professional and highly professional workforce, Singapore provides strong coverage of intellectual asset rights within the country’s politically sound framework. In addition, the ecosystem of Jurong Island, with all the existing infrastructure and facilities, as well as the help of Singapore’s Economic Development. Board and other government agencies have given us confidence in our resolve to invest in Singapore,” said Mr. Prakash Kolluri, Managing Director of Cariflex.
The plant is expected to be operational by 2024 and will create at least 70 permanent jobs for the first phase of the project. These come with roles in engineering, production, quality, supply chain, and other production functions. At the peak of construction, Cariflex expects more than 1,500 employees to be hired on site.
“The Singapore plant is expected to build our global polyisoprene latex production capacity by more than 50%. This assignment preserves and maintains our leading position in the polyisoprene latex market in terms of combined capacity, number of locations and production lines to supply the product quality in its class. This provides our consumers with total confidence to continue to rely on Cariflex™ IR Latex as a sustainable source to grow their business,” added Mr. Kolluri.
Cariflex’s investment and expansion in Singapore is strongly supported by the Economic Development Board of Singapore (EDB) and JTC Corporation (JTC), two statutory forums of Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the importance of supply chain resilience. We are therefore very pleased that Cariflex has selected Singapore for the world’s largest polyisoprene latex plant that will supply high-quality fabrics to the region for the production of surgical gloves. sold worldwide. This underscores Singapore’s price as a resilient and key node in the supply chain to serve the fitness and hygiene markets in Asia,” said Mr. Tan Kong Hwee, Executive Vice President of EDB. The company’s activities will make a contribution to our ambition to expand the higher-priced downstream specialty chemicals sector in Singapore and we look forward to the smart task opportunities they will create. “
Mr. Alvin Tan, JTC Deputy Managing Director, Industry Cluster Group, said: “Cariflex’s resolve to locate the world’s largest polyisoprene latex production facility on Jurong Island is a testament to the attractiveness of the island’s plug-and-play infrastructure and built-in ecosystem. This allows corporations to make their key investments in central facilities, while also leveraging shared utilities and third-party services. »