Japanese rubber producer JSR take Covid-19 hit
Japanese emulation rubber and synthetic resin producer JSR saw reduced demand for its key products from domestic and overseas auto producers during the 2019-20 fiscal year ending 31 March because of the impact of Covid-19 in the final quarter.
JSR sold 611,552t of emulation rubbers during 2019-20, down by 5.6pc from 647,874t a year earlier. The firm also supplied less synthetic resin than the previous year but JSR did not disclose these volumes.
The lower sales of emulation rubber for vehicle tyres and synthetic resin for automobile parts weighted on the company's 2019-20 profitability. JSR's profit of ¥22.6bn ($212mn) was down by 27.4pc from ¥31.1bn in 2018-19.
Production of emulation rubber, especially styrene butadiene rubber, and synthetic resins such as acrylonitrile butadiene styrene resin, are the two main business segments of JSR. It now plans to minimise its investment in emulation rubber production facilities, with more emphasis on supplying feedstock for the semiconductor and medical sectors.
Japan produced 411,000t of styrene-butadiene rubber during 2019-20, down by 9.5pc from 454,000t a year earlier, according to the data from the Japan petrochemical industry association. It also manufactured 457,000t of acrylonitrile, down by 2.1pc from the previous year to 467,000t.
By Nanami Oki
source: Argus Media
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