Japan’s Mitsui Chemicals to expand PP capacity in US, Mexico

11 July 2011 04:17  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS)--Japan’s Mitsui Chemicals is expanding its overall polypropylene (PP) capacity in the US and Mexico by 27,000 tonnes/year to meet growing demand from the automotive materials sector, the company said on Monday.

The company is building a new 14,000 tonne/year PP line at its plant at Ohio in the US and a 13,000 tonne/year line at its facility in Aguascalientes, Mexico, Mitsui Chemicals said in a statement.

Mitsui Chemicals’ currently produces 212,000 tonnes/year of PP in the US through its two production facilities in Ohio and Tennessee, the statement said.

In Mexico, the company’s unit in Aguascalientes has an existing PP capacity of 32,000 tonnes/year, it said.

The new PP line in Ohio is expected to begin commercial operations in January next year, while the expanded capacity in Aguascalientes will begin commercial production in May 2012, the company said.

Mitsui Chemicals said it is expanding PP production facilities in Japan, the US, Europe, Thailand, China, and India to meet demand for automotive materials globally.

“Demand for automotive materials, which took a downward swing in late 2008 as a result of the global recession, has recently regained momentum in not only emerging markets such as China and India, but also in North America,” the company said.

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By: Nurluqman Suratman

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