Jul 13 2005
Celanese Corporation has announced the intention of a strategic investment in the construction of a state-of-the-art Vinyl Acetate Ethylene and Conventional Emulsion Polymer facility in China. The new plant will incorporate the leading technology from the other emulsions plants that Celanese operates around the world. The site selection process is in an advanced stage and the facility is planned to be operational in the first half of 2007.
"We view this strategic decision as a significant milestone for our growing emulsions business," said Celanese Chief Executive Officer David Weidman. "It is also consistent with our commitment to the Asia region – especially China – and our strategy of strengthening our product offering with higher-value products."
Celanese made its first emulsions acquisition from Clariant in 2002 and completed the acquisition of the Vinamul emulsions business from ICI in February 2005. Celanese’s global emulsions business has 10 production facilities in Europe and North America and a leading position in its respective markets. The Celanese Emulsions business serves a wide variety of markets, including paints and coatings, adhesives, non-wovens, glassfiber, construction, paper, and textiles.
Celanese has been doing business in China since the 1960s and began to establish joint ventures in China in the 1980s. It has long-standing ventures in cellulose acetate and recently established a new polyacetal engineering plastics joint venture site in Nantong. In addition, Celanese operates a trading company in Shanghai and offices throughout the mainland China.
Celanese is currently building a 600,000 metric ton acetic acid plant in the Nanjing Chemical Industry Park in Nanjing, China. The plant will be ready for production in late 2006 or early 2007. The company also recently announced the investment in a world-scale 20,000 ton GUR® ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMW-PE) plant in Asia that will be operational in the second half of 2007.
http://www.celanese.com