MOSCOW (MRC) -- Clariant, a world-leader in specialty chemicals, is investing in further enhancements to its local capabilities in manufacturing EP and HTR in China to satisfy a growing demand in the electronics and electrical markets, as per the company's press release.
In addition to expanding its existing Shanghai facility, vast manufacturing knowledge and experience will be leveraged from Clariant's global sites in the U.S., Singapore and Germany to ensure the output of Chinese locations is consistent with high global standards for product safety and performance.
Around the world, Clariant's customers will soon have a local source of supply for these advanced materials, which means product-development and delivery lead times as well as back-up supplies that are critical to Business Continuity Planning will be substantially reduced.
Fueled by an increasing number of new products in the automotive, small consumer electronics and electrical markets, the use of engineering materials is growing at an annual rate of 7-8%, well above the growth rate of the plastics industry as a whole. Coupled with the Chinese Government's 13th Five Year plan, in which the importance of value-adding industries such as advanced materials is highlighted, the demand for EP and HTR is expected to surge in China.
In anticipation of the rising demand for small-lot compounds of EP and HTR supplied under a tight product pipeline, Clariant has leveraged its existing international expertise in engineering and high-temperature materials to upgrade its facilities in China. Since 2016, more than CHF7.5 m has been invested in equipment upgrade and facilities expansion to boost capacities and capabilities of the Clariant plants in Shanghai, Singapore and the U.S.
In regards to the Singapore site, Clariant has added new physical, chemical and weathering test capabilities there in the first half of 2017. In addition, Clariant will add additional resources during the remainder of 2017 in line with its plan to create a Global Competence Center in Singapore. Such additions will facilitate the site's primary responsibility of developing the global standards for formulation, manufacturing and quality control for both EP and HTR polymer families. Thanks to the local availability of these advance materials, Clariant's customers enjoy better Business Continuity Planning with reduced product-development and delivery times as well as back-up supplies.
"By transferring knowledge and technologies from our three U.S. sites in Maine, Massachusetts and Michigan, as well as the Singapore site and Germany site in Ahrensburg, we are bringing our Chinese plants quickly up to speed in supplying local customers with EP and HTR in small-lot compounds," said Peter Dufour, Senior Business Development Director, EP-HTR, Clariant Masterbatches Business Unit. "Extensive training is being conducted to our local personnel in order to help them meet the high expectations of customers in our target industries."
Following the new investment last year, the Shanghai manufacturing site is planning to further increase additional production lines especially for EP and HTR compound, in order to enhance capacity for satisfying the growing local market’s needs from the automotive, electrical, electronics and consumer goods industries, which are increasingly demanding new product types in lower quantities within shorter production intervals. Our two other manufacturing locations in Taoyuan and Guangzhou have simultaneously also received large investments to boost its advanced manufacturing capabilities.
As MRC informed earlier, in March 2017, Clariant was awarded a contract by Dongguan Grand Resource Science & Technology Co. Ltd. to develop a new propane dehydrogenation unit in cooperation with CB&I. The project includes the license and engineering design of the unit, which is to be built in Dongguan City, Guangdong Province, China. The Dongguan plant will be one of the largest single-train dehydrogenation units in the world.
Clariant AG is a Swiss chemical company and a world leader in the production of specialty chemicals for the textile, printing, mining and metallurgical industries. It is engaged in processing crude oil products in pigments, plastics and paints. Clariant India has local masterbatch production activities at Rania, Kalol and Nandesari (Gujarat) and Vashere (Maharashtra) sites in India.
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