Belgium’s Solvay eyes 100,000 tonne/year ECH plant in China

14 December 2010 07:55  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS)--Belgian chemicals and drugs maker Solvay said on Tuesday it is looking at building an epichlorohydrin (ECH) plant with an initial capacity of 100,000 tonnes/year at Taixing in China's Jiangsu province.

The plant, which was planned to be built at a reserved site in Taixing Economic Development Park, would use Solvay’s green technology - Epicerol - and was slated to start production in 2013, Solvay said in a statement.

Financial details of the project were not disclosed.

The Epicerol technology was based on the transformation of glycerin obtained as a by-product from the production of biofuels out of vegetable-renewable oils, it said.

Solvay said it had signed a letter of intent with China-based producer SP Chemicals, from which the proposed ECH plant would derive its chlor-alkali supply.

The plant’s output would cater to domestic China demand, it said, adding that the Chinese ECH market represents 29% of the world's market share.

ECH is used in making epoxy resins, with growing applications in corrosion protection coatings, as well in the electronics, automotive, aerospace and wind turbine industries.

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By: Pearl Bantillo
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