[SINGAPORE] Synthetic rubber latex maker Cariflex has officially inaugurated its new plant in Singapore, furthering its supply-chain resilience and market penetration in South-east Asia.
The region, which contributes over 75 per cent sales of Cariflex’s overall latex products, is a key growth market given its high concentration of natural rubber companies, which are potentially future customers of the synthetic latex maker, chief operation officer of Cariflex Dr Philippe Henderson told The Business Times.
“The markets for our synthetic latex products are where natural rubber latex has been used, and South-east Asia is the place,” he said.
Made possible with over US$350 million of investment, the polyisoprene rubber plant is the first of its kind in Singapore, and the largest in the world, highlighted Dr Tan See Leng, Minister for Manpower and Second Minister for Trade and Industry during the plant opening ceremony on Wednesday (May 14).
Construction of the plant in Jurong Island began in 2022, with operations commencing in November 2024. The opening ceremony marked the completion of the technical and regulatory approval for the plant as a qualified supplier.
“The plant is designed for modular expansion to accommodate future demand growth. When fully ramped up, it will double Cariflex’s 2023 manufacturing capacity for polyisoprene latex,” noted the Singapore-based specialty chemicals company, which is wholly owned by petrochemical company DL Chemical, under South Korean conglomerate DL Group.
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Cariflex’s polyisoprene rubber latex is a synthetic, water-based polymer latex, especially suitable for surgical gloves and condoms — the applications where allergies to natural rubber latex is a concern.
Dr Tan noted that specialty chemicals as an increasingly important growth segment for Singapore: “Over the last 10 years, its (specialty chemicals sector’s) value-added has doubled to nearly S$5 billion, and it now contributes to 20 per cent of the output in Singapore’s wider energy and chemicals sector.”
He added that the Republic welcomes expansions by chemical firms to meet the rising demand for high-performance chemicals, that are less carbon-intensive than commodity chemicals.
“Growing this segment will go a long way in diversifying our manufacturing sector, and in building an innovation-led economy that will benefit Singaporeans,” said Dr Tan.
Strategic location of Singapore
Cariflex CEO Ryu Sang Woo noted that Singapore is the manufacturing base given its proximity to the customers’ manufacturing facilities. This is on top of the country’s thorough intellectual property protection and attractive business planning policies.
The new plant, together with Cariflex’ facility in Brazil, ensures its supply chain resilience.
“We are only the company who can produce from both sides (of the world) the same product, so customers can enjoy non-disrupted supply… our competitors only have small operations in one place,” said Cariflex’ Ryu, adding that other suppliers of synthetic rubber latex would be more susceptible to local disruptions.
He noted that Cariflex has directly hired 80 skilled talents for the new plant’s operation, additional to about 30 more people engaged via third-party contractors.
The job creation is a “sizeable expansion by today’s standards”, noted Dr Tan, given that manufacturing workforce has steadily shrunk with automation.
“In a time of global uncertainty and a challenging trade climate, this investment is a welcome boost for Singapore,” said Dr Tan.
For Cariflex’ parent company, the plant is not only a “cornerstone” of DL Chemical’s global transformation, but also contributes to DL Group’s broader goal of net-zero emissions by 2050, said DL Chemical’s CEO Kim Jong Hyun.
“We remain committed to further investment and business expansion on the remaining land – in ways that create even more value for our customers and lasting benefits for the local community,” said DL Chemical’s Kim.
