Ube to begin work on Thailand hexanediol plant

25 September 2008 12:08  [Source: ICIS news]

TOKYO (ICIS news)--Japanese engineering plastics maker Ube Industries expects to begin building a 6,000 tonne/year 1,6-hexanediol plant in Rayong, Thailand in January 2009 to meet robust demand in Asia, the company said on Thursday.

The facility, which would also produce 1,5-pentanediol, was scheduled to come online at the beginning of 2011, the producer said, adding that the plant would require an investment of "several billion yen".

Ube expected the new unit to generate net sales of baht (Bt) 1.3bn/year ($38.27m/year) once it was fully operational.

One of the company’s core products, 1,6-hexanediol is primarily used in high-performance polyester and urethane resins, and global demand for the product was growing at 5-8%/ year, Ube said.

Demand in China, the largest market in Asia, was increasing at over 10%/year, and the demand-supply balance would continue to remain tight, the company said.

As one of the three-largest suppliers along with Germany’s BASF and LANXESS, Ube had 1,6-hexanediol units in Ube, Yamaguchi prefecture, and Sakai, Osaka in Japan and Castellon in Spain.

The producer also planned to set up plants to produce other chemicals like polycarbonate diol (PCD) and polyurethane dispersion in Thailand, it said.

Ube operates caprolactam, nylon and synthetic rubber factories in Thailand.

($1 = Bt33.97)

For more on 1,6 hexadienol visit ICIS chemical intelligence

By: Tomomi Yokomura
+65 6780 4359

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