Taiwan’s top rubber firm TSRC to shut down southern Vietnam plant

TSRC, formerly known as Taiwan Synthetic Rubber Corp., will cease all production activities at its compounding materials plant in Vietnam’s southern province of Binh Duong by the end of this year.

In a Friday announcement, TSRC said the decision follows a series of market evaluations and business improvement actions by TSRC for its subsidiary, TSRC Vietnam.

TSRC will continue to provide high quality products and services from other existing compounding plants to its customers, according to the statement.

TSRC will take necessary steps for the plant production cessation in compliance with local rules and regulations. This action is estimated to result in an impairment loss of TWD240 million ($7.41 million).

TSRC, headquartered in Taiwan, provides materials solutions of synthetic rubber (SR) and styrenic block copolymer (SBC) to customers in tires, footwear, plastic modifications, adhesives, and other sectors.

It established TSRC Vietnam in October 2018 in order to support its other subsidiary Advanced Shoe Materials in footwear materials.

In January-November, Vietnam’s export revenue grew 14.4% year-on-year to $369.93 billion, while import expenditure went up 16.4% to $345.62 billion. Footwear was the fifth-biggest cash earner with $20.76 billion, up 12.9% year-on-year.