GERMANY specialty chemicals company Lanxess' 400 million-euro (US$520.5 million) rubber plant in Singapore aims to meet rising demand in Asia, led by China and India.

The company's single largest investment ever, the plant, which opened yesterday, will produce 100,000 tons of butyl rubber annually when it reaches full capacity in 2015. The product is a synthetic rubber that is used in the inner liners of car tires that hold the air in the tire.

Lanxess' butyl rubber unit generates over half of its 500 million-euro sales from Asia Pacific, of which half comes from China, the company said.

The global demand for butyl rubber, at 1.2 million tons last year, could rise 5 percent annually by 2017, Lanxess said. Demand may rise 7.5 percent annually in China, led by increasing car ownership in China, the company said.