Released on 27/11/12

Taiwanese company Dairen Chemical is studying the feasibility of producing some products, probably including vinyl acetate monomer and VAM derivatives, the Chang Chun group company's main products, in the US starting as early as in 2016. The scale of VAM production is likely to be 350,000 t/y.The company is pondering the effective utilization of raw materials and utilities derived from shale gas, whose development has been active in the US, to secure competitiveness. The US will be the next bridgehead for Dairen's global strategy following China and Southeast Asia.The company is currently working on the construction of a new plant in Singapore with a 350,000-t/y VAM facility that is expected to start production in May and a 200,000-t/y facility for allyl alcohol that is expected to start production in May-June. The new VAM output is initially destined for supply to Yizheng, China, for the local production of VAM derivatives by the Chang Chun group. Moreover, a project to build a 350,000-t/y VAM plant in Yizheng has been approved, including the project's environmental-impact assessment. The Yizheng project will be advanced depending on the operating status of the Singapore plant and on market conditions.Dairen is also considering a 350,000-t/y VAM plant as part of Petronas' Refinery and Petrochemicals Integrated Development, or RAPID, project, which is being developed in Johor, Malaysia, and plans to take part in a number of other large-scale overseas projects as well.

Source Japan Chemical Web