Nov 30th - Sumitomo Chemical Co. to build a Singaporean factory to produce synthetic rubber for fuel-saving tires.

Sumitomo Chem Picks Singapore For New Tire Rubber Plant

The investment will come to about 10 billion yen. The facility is expected to go onstream in the October-December quarter of 2013 and have an annual output capacity of 40,000 tons.

With stricter fuel economy standards in the U.S. and Europe driving growth in demand for fuel-saving tires, Sumitomo Chemical initially considered boosting production capacity for styrene-butadiene rubber at a Chiba Prefecture plant. But butadiene -- a raw material -- can be procured more steadily in Singapore and preferential tax treatment there will likely make the rubber more cost-competitive.

Sumitomo Chemical's output capacity for the high-performance rubber now stands at 10,000 tons in Japan -- a figure that will quintuple when the Singaporean plant begins operation.