Asahi Kasei to form ACN, MMA jv in Thailand

19 March 2008 09:15  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--Asahi Kasei Chemicals has agreed to form a $750m (€480m) joint venture with PTT and Marubeni Corp to build an acrylonitrile (ACN) plant and a methyl methacrylate (MMA) unit in Rayong, Thailand, the company said on Wednesday.

Asahi Kasei and PTT will each have a 48.5% stake in the joint venture, while Marubeni will own the remaining 3% stake.

The plants - due to come onstream in late 2010 - are expected to produce 200,000 tonnes of ACN and 70,000 tonnes of MMA annually.

The ACN plant will adopt a new production technology by Asahi Kasei that enables the use of propane feedstock, instead of the more conventional and costly propylene.

A stable and cost effective propylene feedstock supply will be provided by Thai oil refining firm PTT, Asahi Kasei added.

The other facility will produce MMA from the acetone cyanohydrin process. It will use hydrogen cyanide, a by-product of the ACN production process, as feedstock.

Asahi Kasei expects the ACN and MMA plants to provide yen (Y) 40bn ($403m) and Y18bn of revenue annually.

The projects are part of Asahi Kasei Group’s Growth Action - 2010 strategic initiative to expand production capacities through focused allocation of resources.

($1 = Y99.20)

By: Serene Cheong
+65 6780 4359

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