12,000-Ton/Year POE Unit Begins Trial Operation!

Currently, Mitsui Chemicals' 120,000-ton-per-year Tafmer polyolefin elastomer (POE) plant located on Jurong Island, Singapore is in trial operation, with commercial operations set to begin in the second half of Mitsui's fiscal year, specifically in March 2026.

Osamu Yoshida, Executive Director and CFO of Mitsui Chemicals, Inc., explained: "Even after the launch, we do not wish to reach full capacity immediately."

Osamu Yoshida pointed out that while striving to expand the sales of Tafmer into new application areas, the supply-demand balance of POE materials is facing challenges.

Last year, Mitsui reported that competition in the solar panel market has intensified, which is a key focus of its POE expansion, especially due to inventory adjustments in China. Therefore, the group is working to expand the sales of Tafmer into high-performance packaging materials, engineering polymers, footwear, and other application areas.

Regarding automotive applications, Osamu Yoshida stated, "Some of our customers are contractually obligated to procure specified materials only within fixed timeframes, so the transition is expected to take some time."

Mitsui TAFMER polyolefin elastomer resin from Japan is a non-crystalline or low-crystalline α-olefin copolymer developed by Mitsui Chemicals using proprietary polymerization technology. This high-performance material, with its multiple advantages such as flexibility, light weight, low-temperature sealability, impact resistance, easy peelability, heat shrinkability, transparency, compatibility, and cleanliness, shows great application potential in various fields including packaging, automotive, electronics, and medical industries.

On July 28, 2023, Mitsui Chemicals held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new plant to produce high-performance elastomer TAFMER™ at its wholly-owned subsidiary, Mitsui Elastomers Singapore Private Limited (MELS), located in Singapore.

The new factory, located on Jurong Island in Singapore, will produce high-performance elastomers Tafmer, with a designed capacity of 120,000 tons per year, further enhancing its existing production capacity of 225,000 tons per year.