Celanese to construct industrial
ethanol production facilities in China
Celanese Far East Limited, a subsidiary of
Celanese Corporation, has signed letters of
intent to construct and operate industrial
ethanol production facilities in Nanjing,
China, at the Nanjing Chemical Industrial
Park and in Zhuhai, China, at the Gaolan
Port Economic Zone. Pending project approvals, Celanese could begin industrial
ethanol production within the next 30
months with an initial nameplate capacity
of 400,000 tons per year per plant with an
initial investment of approximately $300
million per plant. The company is pursuing approval at two locations to ensure its
ability to effectively grow with future demand, according to the company. The
projects will use Celanese’s newly developed advanced technology to produce industrial ethanol. This new process
combines Celanese’s proprietary acetyl
platform with advanced manufacturing
technology to produce ethanol from hy-drocarbon-sourced feedstocks. To meet future demand, Celanese’s technology also
allows capacity at each facility to be more
than doubled at significantly less than the
original investment, the company said.
Current demand for industrial ethanol in
China is approximately three million tons
annually and is expected to grow between
eight percent and 10 percent per year.
Cytec aims to complete
expansion of polymer
additives facility by 2012
Cytec Industries Inc. has announced that a
project is underway to significantly increase the capacity of its light stabilizer
production facility in Willow Island, WV.
“Global demand for high performance
UV protection for plastics and coatings is
growing,” said Domenico Romanino,
global business director polymer additives. “We are expanding our manufacturing capabilities for several product
lines including our Cyasorb THT and
Cyasorb Cynergy Solutions stabilizers to
meet our customers’ needs and leverage
the value we bring to them. The expansion
of the production facility is expected to be
completed beginning 2012.”
Kuraray expands PVA resin
production facility
Tokyo-based Kuraray Co., Ltd. is expanding polyvinyl acetate (PVA) resin production at its European subsidiary
Kuraray Europe GmbH—Kuraray’s
wholly owned subsidiary in Frankfurt,
Germany. In response to growing demand
for PVA resin in European markets, Kuraray decided to expand production facilities to secure a stable supply system in
Frankfurt, Germany. By this action annual
production capacity is increasing by
24,000 tons to 94,000 tons with a capital
investment of approximately €58 million.
The planned commencement of operations is the first quarter of fiscal 2013.
Frost & Sullivan predicts Indian
acrylic emulsions market to
generate revenue of $491.2 M
by 2016
New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, Indian Water-based Adhesive Market,” finds
that the total water-based adhesive market
earned revenues of $328.9 million in 2009
and estimates this to reach $666.7 million
in 2016. Increasing income levels and infrastructure development in India are expected to drive the growth of building
materials and related products including
water-based adhesives that are categorized
into acrylic emulsions and polyvinyl acetate (PVA). The former accounts for 66
percent of the total water-based adhesive
market, while the latter contribute the rest.
Widely used in the construction, furniture
and packaging industries, water-based adhesives are set to gain demand in the wake
of the green building initiatives in India.
Buhler acquires Draiswerke
The Buhler Technology Group recently acquired the U.S.-based Draiswerke, Inc. The
company generated sales of approximately
$5 million last year and will be integrated
in the Buhler grinding and dispersion business unit, which offers solutions for manufacturing electronic materials, printing
inks and paints, fine chemicals, and products used in other industries. According to
Buhler, the acquisition is a logical further
development after Buhler’s acquisition of
parts of Draiswerke Mannheim GmbH in
2003. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price. This transaction
enables Buhler to strengthen its position in
the North American market in terms of
both existing and prospective customers.
Integration in the Buhler grinding and dispersion business unit is to be completed by
the end of this year.
Arkema increases Kynar PVDF
fluorinated polymer capacity
in China
In 2007 Arkema announced the construction of a Kynar PVDF fluorinated polymer
production plant on its Changshu site in
China, scheduled to come on stream in
March 2011. Arkema has now decided to
speed up the development of this plant,
and announced a 50% production increase effective mid-2012. This investment
is intended to help meet the fast-growing
demand for PVDF resins in emerging technologies, in particular applications in new
energies and water filtration.
The initial plan for the PVDF production plant in Changshu aimed to meet
growing demand in the industrial paint
market in Asia. From the onset, the capacity of the site, which is fitted with the latest
equipment, had been designed to accommodate the long-term growth of Asian customers. The additional production capacity
will help meet requirements for PVDF
resins from new emerging applications in
Asia. The company reports that currently,
applications using PVDF polymers are enjoying strong growth in this region, e.g.
polymer membranes for drinking water filtration, electrodes for lithium ion batteries,
and protective films for the backsheet of
photovoltaic panels. CW
