Cargill-Dow jv building Japan market for its PLA polymer

18 January 2000 07:03  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (CNI)--Cargill Dow Polymers (CDP), the 50:50 joint venture between Cargill Inc and The Dow Chemical Co in the US, sees increasingly environmentally-conscious Japan as a major market for its new biodegradable polylactic acid (PLA) polymer, CNI was told Tuesday.

The company has firmed supply agreements with four Japanese processors, industry sources in Tokyo said.

CDP produces the polymer at a 3630 tonne/year pilot plant that is being expanded to 7259 tonne/year. A commercial facility of 136 116 tonne/year is scheduled to come onstream in Q4 2001, in Blair, Nebraska.

CDP currently is test-marketing its PLA polymer, which is made from corn and biodegrades into water and carbon dioxide after use. The company expects to grow the product's acceptance in Japan through its deal with the four importers:

• Fabrics major Kanebo Gosen, which plans to have dedicated PLA polymer-processing equipment in place at one of its sites by 2002. It tentatively projects sales of 10 000 tonne/year of the material to textile producers in Japan.
• Kuraray Co, another textiles major, which also expects to produce 10 000 tonne/year of material, by 2005.
• Mitsubishi Plastics, which will add film-processing hardware for PLA polymer later in 2000 at one of its plants.
• Unitika, which said it expects its PLA polymer film and fabric facilities to be operational from 2002.

CDP reportedly projects revenues of $200m (Euro194m)/year from PLA polymer by 2004. About a third of that could come from Japan.

By: Lawrence Basapa
+65 6780 4359

For the latest chemical news, data and analysis that directly impacts your business sign up for a free trial to ICIS news - the breaking online news service for the global chemical industry.

Get the facts and analysis behind the headlines from our market leading weekly magazine: sign up to a free trial to ICIS Chemical Business.

Printer Friendly