What’s new: A fire broke out in a rubber-producing subsidiary of the oil conglomerate China Petroleum and Chemical Corp. (Sinopec) in the eastern city of Nanjing on Tuesday, according to a statement by the subsidiary.
The blaze lasted nearly three hours before being extinguished, and the company reported no injuries. The cause of the incident is currently under investigation.
What’s the background: The Sinopec subsidiary can produce 100,000 tons of styrene-butadiene rubber annually and a similar amount of butadiene rubber, according to the company’s website. The rubber production represents around 6% of China’s total capacity in both types of rubber, data from energy information provider Oilchem China indicates.
Oilchem China expects the incident will lead to a decline in domestic rubber production as regulators usually increase the number of safety inspections into a sector following major incidents, which can cause some operations that had previously been deemed safe to halt operation.
Contact reporter Lu Yutong (yutonglu@caixin.com) and editor Marcus Ryder (marcusryder@caixin.com)
