Released on 29/10/12

Japanese companies are developing new technologies to combat the effect of the USA's low-cost feedstock advantage in the form of shale gas. Mitsubishi Chemical is developing a new route for purified terephthalic acid (PTA), and is eyeing a plant with a capacity of 1.2 M tonnes/y. The company's latest, fifth-generation PTA route has been in use since 2010 at its plant in West Bengal, India, but has yet to run at 100% capacity because the process is very innovative. Mitsubishi Rayon formed a Saudi Arabian jv with Sabic to produce methyl methacrylate (MMA) beginning in 2014, using Lucite International's Alpha technology. The technology involves the use of methanol, ethylene and carbon monoxide as feedstocks. Asahi Kasei Chemicals' new production process for MMA also involves the use of raw materials other than C4 fractions. Asahi Kasei, Mitsubishi Chemicals and Showa Denko are developing a process for butadiene production. Japanese producers are shifting towards butadiene and propylene as ethylene comes under intense global competition from gas-based products, particularly those using low-cost shale gas from the USA. Original Source: ICIS Chemical Business, http://www.icis.com/, Copyright Reed Business Information Limited 2012.

SOURCE ICIS News