Greater Noida, India -- Huntsman Polyurethanes is to invest $10 million in a new polyurethane systems house in Pune, near Mumbai, to replace its existing facility on a rented site in Thane, Mumbai.
The new state-of-the-art blending facility will start up in April 2012, with capacity to haldle 36 kilotonnes per annum of systems, an amount which can easily be scaled up, according to Nick Webster, Huntsman's polyurethanes director for Europe, the Middle East and India, speaking 9 March at the PU Tech 2011 event at the India Expo Centre in Greater Noida, outside New Delhi.
At the facility in Pune, Huntsman will make the complete range of systems based on MDI (methylene diphenyl diisocyanate) for footwear, automotive parts, rigid insulation and more.
Huntsman bought the land at Pune with the aid of the local development agency, with staff working hard to gain the necessary approvals, Webster said. Anand G, Huntsman's general manager for India, said the unit will employ 15 people initially, while in total Huntsman Polyurethanes employs 50 in India.
The PU systems operation will source MDI from "wherever we choose," said Webster, listing its plants in China, Europe and the US as sources. For polyols it will source from Asia and India as needed, making tactical decisions as needed.
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