ExxonMobil to build hydrocarbon resin plant

ExxonMobil Chemical has announced it will build facilities to manufacture premium halobutyl rubber and Escorez hydrogenated hydrocarbon resin at its recently expanded petrochemical complex in Singapore.
Engineering and procurement activities have begun, with construction expected to begin in the second half of 2014 and completion anticipated in 2017.
The company is a major supplier of halobutyl rubber to the global tyre industry and this expansion project will add production capacity of 140,000t/yr. The hydrogenated hydrocarbon resin production unit will be the world’s largest, with a capacity of 90,000t/yr, to meet long-term demand growth for hot-melt adhesives.
Since the 1970s, ExxonMobil has been an industry leader in process technologies and capacity expansions of speciality tackifiers and polymers for the adhesives industry.
Hydrogenated tackifier demand is expected to double over the next 15 years. Much of the growth is anticipated in Asia, where packaging, woodworking and nonwovens manufacturers increasingly use hot melt adhesives.