Hong Kong -- Speciality chemical company Clariant plans to build an ethoxylation plant in Dayabay, south of Guangzhou, in China as part of a $100-million investment plan for the company in China. The plant, due to start up in early 2011, will enable Clariant to meet increasing demand from the Chinese and wider Asian markets, said a 15 Sept statement from the company.
The plant will mostly serve domestic customers for a broad range of products used in construction, industrial & home care, metal working, textile and paper, and crop protection. It will also supply important export markets across Asia.
The 80 000-sq.m state-of-the-art plant will have a capacity close to 50 kilotonnes per annum, and will be staffed by locally hired teams, said Clariant.
The speciality chemicals producer said it is among the largest producers of ethoxylates globally, and is a leaders in speciality applications. Ethoxylation is a key technology for Clariant, and it has existing plants in Europe, North America and Latin America.
Dayabay will be Clariant's first ethoxylation plant in Asia.
For polyurethanes, Clariant supplies a range of polyethylene glycols for diverse uses, as well as various phosphorus-based fire retardants.
Clariant's programme in China includes a plant in Hangzhou for Quinacridone specialty organic pigments, a state-of-the-art phosphorus pentoxide plant in Kunming, as well as a new Masterbatches plant and Archroma Center for textiles in Guangzhou. Clariant's new surfactants production facility, which will be inaugurated in Zhenjiang, eastern China in September 2009, is another milestone in the programme.
"Dayabay is a key element of our China growth strategy. It will enable us to further expand our footprint in China and consolidate our position as a leading exthoxylates producer," said Siegfried Fischer, executive committee member of Clariant, speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony.
"It will be built to the highest environmental and production standards and is another sign of our commitment to the Chinese market. We are also very pleased to announce that we have signed a long-term supply contract for ethylene oxide with CSPC (CNOOC and Shell Petrochemicals Company Ltd)," added Fischer.
Clariant has more than 1300 people working in laboratories and facilities in over 13 cities in China. The speciality chemicals group is present on five continents with over 100 group companies, and employs around 20 000 people worldwide. Headquartered in Muttenz, Switzerland, it generated sales of CHF 8100 million ($7800 million) in 2008.
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