Tokyo (Japan): As per the latest developments in the global EPDM market, ENEOS EPDM (Joint Venture of JSR Corporation and JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy Corporation) has planned scheduled maintenance for its Kashima, Japan EPDM plant. Furthermore, the maintenance shutdown will be a month-long endeavor.

EPDM Rubber plant with a capacity of 36 KTPA at Kashima will go offline in the second half of Q2 2023.

The commencement of the maintenance shutdown is expected to be in the first week of June, and the shutdown will last the whole of June, with production restarting in early July 2023, sources revealed.

Meanwhile, the company has already announced a maintenance shutdown for Ethylene and Propylene in late April 2023. Ethylene and Propylene are the key feedstock of EPDM.

ENEOS has chosen a near-perfect time for the announcement of maintenance as the EPDM market has turned bearish in the Asia Pacific region on the back of robust supply and stable demand from the downstream automotive and construction industry.

The maintenance shutdown is expected to result in limited production and thereby constrained availability in the domestic market, which is likely to impact the supply dynamics. Consequently, EPDM Rubber prices might show improvement in Japan and other importing nations, including China and Thailand in the Asian region and Germany and Belgium in Europe coupled with the US.

Moreover, it is expected that the demand for EPDM Rubber from downstream industries will gain momentum in the third quarter of 2023. This is primarily due to the fact that Q3 is considered the peak demand season for the downstream automotive and construction industries, both in the Asian and Western markets. Consequently, the timing of the scheduled maintenance could not have been more opportune.