The Hague, April 23, 2024 – ARLANXEO, a global leader in performance elastomers, today held a groundbreaking ceremony for its new Therban® hydrogenated nitrile butadiene rubber (HNBR) plant in Changzhou, China. With a nameplate annual production capacity of 5,000 tons, the first phase of construction will allow for the production of 2,500 tons of high-quality rubber per year. The plant is expected to begin operations in the third quarter of 2025. 

The groundbreaking ceremony was attended by Stephan van Santbrink, CEO, ARLANXEO, Hong Sun, Managing Director, ARLANXEO China, Dongling Pan, Deputy Mayor of Changzhou City and Qing Zhou, Secretary of Changzhou High-tech Zone CPC Committee and Xinbei District Committee. In addition, senior ARLANXEO business leaders, customers, local authorities, business partners, and local community members honored the groundbreaking ceremony with their attendance. 

Stephan van Santbrink, CEO, ARLANXEO, said, “ARLANXEO’s new Therban® plant will serve our valued customers in China and globally. The demand for advanced synthetic rubber products continues to grow, and we are committed to supporting our customers with a reliable supply of Therban®.”

Located next to ARLANXEO’s Changzhou EPDM plant, the new Therban® plant will leverage synergies from ARLANXEO’s existing facilities and R&D capabilities. ARLANXEO produces and markets HNBR grades under the Therban® brand. Therban® is renowned for its resilience to extreme temperatures, chemicals, and abrasion, and is widely used in demanding applications in automotive systems, oil exploration, mechanical engineering, aerospace, and batteries for new mobility solutions.

“We are very grateful for the support we received from the local authorities throughout the planning phase of this project. The new Therban® plant strengthens ARLANXEO’s ability to meet the growing global demand for advanced synthetic rubber products in emerging applications in new energy, new mobility, and other rapidly expanding sectors, and we are excited to break ground today and move forward to the construction phase of this world-class production facility”, said Hong Sun, Managing Director, ARLANXEO China. 

About ARLANXEO
ARLANXEO is one of the world's largest synthetic rubber producers and a wholly owned subsidiary of Saudi Aramco, a leading energy and chemicals producer. ARLANXEO develops, produces and markets high-performance rubbers with a presence at more than 11 production sites in 8 countries and 5 innovation centers around the world. Its products are used in a wide range of applications: from the automotive and tire industries to the electrical, construction, and oil and gas industries. For more information, please visit www.arlanxeo.com. Follow us on LinkedIn.

ARLANXEO in China
Following the establishment of ARLANXEO in April 2016, ARLANXEO officially commenced operations in China on August 1, 2016. Headquartered in Changzhou, ARLANXEO has a staff of around 400 employees in China, with production facilities in Changzhou and Nantong, in addition to a sales and administration office in Shanghai. ARLANXEO is also a partner of a joint venture with TSRC Corporation located in Nantong.

Forward-Looking Statements
This news release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by ARLANXEO management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.

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