UNITED STATES: Denka Performance Elastomer acquires DuPont's chloroprene rubber business

Denka Performance Elastomer, a new U.S. joint venture owned by Denka (70%) and Mitsui & Co. (30%) and headquartered in La Place, La., has completed the acquisition of DuPont's Neoprene polychloroprene business.

The transaction, for which a purchase price was not given, includes DuPont's Pontchartrain Works polychloroprene production facility in La Place, as well as approximately 235 employees. DuPont will continue to operate its separately owned Kevlar business at the site.

Denka has a chloroprene rubber production facility at its Omi plant in Itoigawa, Niigata, Japan. "We are now poised to deploy an even stronger supply structure with the second facility in North America," Denka noted. Capacities of the plants were not given.

Source: Weekly “PetroChemical News”, Durham, NC, USA; 9 Nov 2015
(Syed Rashid Ali, Karachi, Pakistan)