Dow Epoxy, a business unit of
the Dow Chemical Company, yesterday announced plans to invest more than US$200
million over the next five years in manufacturing and research and development
(R&D) facilities in China.
The company plans to build a 100,000-mtpa (million tons per annum)
world-scale liquid epoxy resins (LER) plant at its existing site in Zhangjiagang
of Jiangsu Province, and a 150,000-mtpa epichlorohydrin (ECH) plant in the
Yangtze River area in China. Both units are expected to start up in the 2009-10
period.
At the same time, Dow Epoxy plans to expand the capacity of its converted
epoxy resins (CER) plant in Zhangjiagang from its current 41,000 mtpa to 75,000
mtpa.
Dow Epoxy is a leading global supplier of epoxy resins and related feedstock
products with 10 manufacturing facilities worldwide including plants in
Zhangjiagang in China, Gumi in South Korea, and Kinu Ura in Japan.
Dow Epoxy will also establish a Global Application Development Centre in
China.
Scheduled to begin activities in the first quarter of 2007, the centre has
been designed to meet the increasing demand for Dow Epoxy products and
technologies in China and the broader region, and will serve as a base for
ongoing product R&D, the company claimed.
"China is the world's fastest growing market for epoxy products and, together
with other Asian markets, plays an important role for Dow and our customers,"
said Patrick Ho, business vice-president of Dow Epoxy.
The new investments demonstrate the firm's confidence and commitment to the
China market and to our customers, Ho continued.
"Dow Epoxy is a leading supplier in China and the Asia-Pacific region,
building on our global supply network and market-focused R&D capabilities.
Our investments in ECH and LER production in China would give us in-market
supply capabilities and the advantage of a fully integrated operation which
would put us in a uniquely competitive position to accelerate our growth and the
growth of our customers," he said.
Dow Epoxy is one of the largest ECH suppliers in the world. The new
150,000-mtpa world-scale ECH plant in China, which is expected to start up in
2010, would be the first to use a new Dow proprietary
glycerine-to-epichlorohydrin technology.
Glycerine is a bio-renewable product generated during bio-diesel production.
The use of glycerine as the primary feedstock in Dow's ECH manufacturing
represents a major technology breakthrough, providing significant cost and
environmental advantages versus the conventional process technologies.
The new 100,000-mtpa LER plant, based on state-of-the-art technology, would
be located in the Yangtze River International Chemical Park in Zhangjiagang,
part of Dow's global LER supply network, which includes facilities in the United
States, Germany, Italy, Brazil and Japan. The new LER plant in China is expected
to start up in 2009.
Since 2003, the CER plant in Zhangjiagang has been supplying epoxy resins to
high-value, downstream industries including electronics, marine, automotive and
appliances. The planned capacity expansion would add 34,000 mtpa in 2008,
further strengthening Dow Epoxy's ability to meet growing customer needs in
China, the company said.
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