Beijing, China (Nov.8, 2012) – Sinopec said it has opened a butadiene rubber factory through its subsidiary-Sinopec Yanshan, which has a capacity of 30 kt/year.

Sinopec described the process as a rare-earth butadiene rubber. Neodymium, a rare earth material, is used to catalyse the polymerisation of butadiene rubber to make Nd-BR, which is increasingly used in the tyre industry. Other catalysts include lithium, cobalt and nickel, none one of which is a rare earth material.

Sinopec said the factory made its first batch of on-spec material on 28 October after 20 months of building and commissioning.