Well-known enterprise builds new factory in the United States
April 2025 is the most chaotic month for global businessmen in the past five years. Trump's tariffs have changed not only consumer prices, but also the capacity planning of the tire industry. It is reported that some tire companies have privately regretted giving up the opportunity to build factories in the United States. There are also companies caught in the "rumor" of stopping new overseas production capacity.
However, in the chaos, many companies are also advancing their capacity planning step by step. After all, things have happened and companies still need to develop. For example, Zeon Corp., a Japanese synthetic rubber supplier, is continuing to lay out its new production capacity. It has completed a feasibility study with the US startup Visolis to jointly produce bio-based isoprene monomer and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) using Visolis' processing technology. They are planning new capacity construction for this material.
New plant of synthetic rubber manufacturer in the United States
In April 2024, Zeon Corp. and the US startup Visolis launched a study on new materials. On April 4, a year later, the two companies announced the successful development of more environmentally friendly new materials - bio-based isoprene monomer and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
Among them, the most eye-catching is bio-based isoprene monomer, which is a sustainable raw material for the preparation of isoprene rubber and an essential high-performance rubber raw material for sustainable high-performance tires. With the release of the finished products, the two companies began to study the commercial scale production of these products.
This also means that they need new factories. It is reported that the two companies are considering the different advantages and disadvantages of building factories in different regions. And according to the tariffs proposed by Trump today, many industry insiders speculate that the new factory will eventually be located in the United States.
In particular, Visolis is an American startup. Its headquarters in Hayward, California, has developed a manufacturing platform that combines artificial intelligence, synthetic biology and catalysis technology to produce "negative carbon" alternatives to petrochemical products and fuels for various industries.
Will the results of the research eventually make the two companies decide to upgrade this ready-made manufacturing platform for large-scale production? At present, it is a high probability event. However, it is worth noting that although Zeon Corp., a synthetic rubber manufacturer, also has its own factory in the United States, due to Zeon Corp.'s previous plan, the US factory that has just experienced layoffs may not be involved in the production of related products.
Synthetic rubber manufacturer freezes US investment
Zeon Corp. announced in January 2025 that in view of the current business environment and market trends, it decided to freeze the investment plan of its US subsidiary Zeon Chemicals L.P. in the Texas factory for about two years. The factory was originally planned to build lithium-ion battery adhesives and start production in 2026.
