Sri Lanka’s rubber industry, which faced one of the toughest years, last year, due to lower global commodity prices, doesn’t appear to be recovering, with a few companies discontinuing their rubber production.

Cuts in rubber exports by Thailand and other producers in the region are on the table to combat plunging prices for the commodity.

Orpic, the Sultanate’s refining and petrochemicals flagship, plans to establish a worldwide network of offices to support the marketing of the huge quantities of polymers that will be produced when its Liwa Plastics mega venture comes on stream in 2020.

Glove manufacturer Petropolymer Sdn Bhd plans to set up an acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) factory costing USD 300 million (RM1.29 billion) in Pengerang, Kota Tinggi, to cater to the demand of the raw material for rubber gloves.

A project by the Department of Science and Technology-Forest Products Research and Development Institute (DOST-FPRDI) in Zamboanga Sibugay has provided a boost to the Philippine rubber industry, helping one of the province’s two processing plants produce export-quality rubber.

Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGV) has scrapped plans to build a rubber processing plant worth MYR 30 million to MYR 45 million in Myanmar, as part of its venture into the rubber industry there.

Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State on 16 May 2017 lamented that the advent of crude oil in the country killed the potential of rubber production in the state, but vowed to return the state to rubber production to increase the state’s foreign exchange earnings.

Cambodia is optimistic about the prospect of a rubber price recovery amid falling global prices, said a local official.

Covestro is again planning to significantly increase polycarbonate production capacity at its site in Shanghai, China, through a debottleneck of its existing production lines.

CB&I confirmed it has been awarded a contract from Chandra Asri's Petrokimia Butadiene Indonesia (PBI) subsidiary to provide three proprietary technologies for PBI's butadiene expansion project in Cilegon, Indonesia.