Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. and China's Sinopec held an opening ceremony Aug. 28 to kick off their planned joint venture polycarbonate and bisphenol-A manufacturing facility in Beijing.
The companies previously said they had been targeting a spring 2010 completion for the 2 billion Yuan ($300 million) investment, but a Mitsubishi spokesman said start-up of the 60,000 metric ton polycarbonate plant and 150,000 metric ton BPA facilities could slip beyond 2010.
China's polycarbonate supplies are heavily dependent on imports, and the two firms said they want to boost supply and delivery time in the country.
The new facility is owned 50 percent by Beijing-based China Petroleum and Chemical Corp. (Sinopec) and 50 percent by both MCC and its Mitsubishi Engineering Plastics unit, and will be located on the grounds of Sinopec's Beijing Yanshan Co. in Beijing.
The companies had been projecting demand growth of 10 percent a year for PC in China, but the economic crisis has slowed that to between 7-8 percent, according to a Mitsubishi spokesman. The new venture will supply entirely in China, Mitsubishi said.
Sinopec will supply raw materials for BPA, including acetones and phenol, while Mitsubishi will supply the technology license to make BPA and PC, along with polycarbonate raw material diphenyl carbonate.
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