MOSCOW (MRC) -- Mitsui Chemicals and Prime Polymer, a joint venture of Mitsui and Idemitsu Kosan, announced the completion and start-up of three augmented polypropylene (PP) compound hubs, as per Apic-online.
The group expanded two lines at its Advanced Composites subsidiary in the U.S. One line was enhanced at the group's Advanced Composites Mexicana site in Mexico and another line was augmented at Mitsui Prime Advanced Composites India in India.
With the enhancements, Mitsui's total PP compound production capacity has increased to 1.05-million t/y from 1-million t/y.
Specifically, North American PP compound production capacity was increased to 440,000 t/y from 410,000 t/y, European production capacity was raised to 20,000 t/y from 15,000 t/y and Asia production capacity (including Japan) increased to 590,000 t/y from 575,000 t/y.
We remind that, as MRC wrote before, in late 2014, Mitsui Chemicals announced that its Shanghai Sinopec Mitsui Elastomers Co. joint venture with Sinopec had launched commercial production of ethylene propylene diene terpolymer (EPT). In 2012, the two companies created the equally-owned joint venture to build a 75,000-t/y EPT plant using metallocene catalyst technology in China's Shanghai Chemical Industry Park.
Mitsui Chemicals is a leading manufacturer and supplier of value added specialty chemicals, plastics and materials for the automotive, healthcare, packaging, agricultural, building, and semiconductor and electronics markets. Mitsui Chemicals is a Japanese Chemicals company, a part of the Mitsui conglomerate. The company has a turnover of around 15 billion USD and has business interests in Japan, Europe, China, Southeast Asia and the USA. The company mainly deals in performance materials, petro and basic chemicals and functional polymeric materials. With the growth of opportunities in India, Mitsui Chemicals has decided to establish its first polypropylene compounding plant in India at 'Japanese Investment park' Neemrana phase III. The unit being set up will be the manufacturing base of Mitsui Chemicals Group in India in which Mitsui Chemicals holds 80% equity and 20% equity is with another subsidiary, Prime Polymer Company of Japan.
Prime Polymer Co., Ltd. was established in April 2005 as part of a comprehensive tie-up with Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. and Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd. The company's activity is focused in polyolefins business to produce different grades of polythylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).
MRC