Industry News
Huntsman expands in Asia and considers upping MDI in US
U
S PU maker Huntsman has opened a systems house focusing on specialities and differentiated products at its Gandaria site, near Jakarta, Indonesia. The
plant has been purposebuilt to produce prepolymer and polyol blends for Indonesia’s fastgrowing MDI (methylene diphenyl diisocyanate) systems market, with a particular focus on the
Sri Lankan plastics sector to get a shot in the arm
S
ri Lanka’s plastic industry will get a new boost when the Industry Ministry and UNIDO (International Centre for Advancement of Manufacturing Technology) will soon launch a national initiative to upgrade it with a target of attaining 40% growth and a value of US$1.75 million. With this, the per capita plastic consumption is set to increase from the current 6-8 kg, said the Ministry. According to the India-based UNIDO, plastics consumption in Sri Lanka is 140,000 tonnes/year, with an estimated growth rate of 10-12%. More than 900 businesses in Sri Lanka are engaged in plastics processing for both the domestic and international markets, the bulk of them being SMEs. Almost 440 companies were engaged in direct plastic exports in 2009 with 88% of them being finished products exporters and the remaining 12%, raw materials and waste exporters. Among the finished product exports, 60% were packaging materials/packaging goods. Cellulose and its chemical derivatives constitute the highest export value
PRA
among the primary forms of plastic exports taking 6% of the total exports in 2009. The US has been a dominant buyer of plastic exports over the previous of years, accounting for 40% of the total exports. The Ministry also said, “The plastic industry holds high potential for Sri Lanka’s rural sector. This initiative will address modernisation, employment, productivity, production quality as well as export growth.” About 300 specialists will be trained on Best Manufacturing Practices and Quality Management Systems. While there are opportunities in the colour, additive, filler, functional masterbatch, PVC pipes and infrastructure sectors, the industry is also subject to challenges, such as lack of technological expertise, low level of productivity due to lack of systematic technical and quality management systems, shortage of technically trained manpower, slow response to consumer quality requirements, weak research abilities and inadequate documentation and quality management systems, thereby affecting the consistency of end products.
SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2012
insulation, automotive and footwear segments, and has a fully equipped technical laboratory to test and develop new products. In related news, the firm is studying the feasibility of expanding MDI capacity at its US facility. The firm has commissioned engineering design studies to increase its global capacity, while not stating the amount. “The expansion is to satisfy the strong demand in residential and
News In Brief Nylon feedstock output in the US Nylon maker Invista has chosen Texas as its site for commercialising a new technology used to make adiponitrile (AND), a key nylon 6/6 feedstock. The firm has operated a pilot plant using the technology for more than two years and now will invest US$100 million at the site in the next 18 months to ramp up production, with full production expected by mid-2014. The proprietary butadiene-based technology improves product yields while requiring a lower annual maintenance investment than existing technology. Sino-German alliance for plasticiser feedstock German firm BASF and China-based Sinopec are exploring the possibility of building a world-scale isononanol (INA) plant in Maoming, with the joint feasibility study expected to be concluded by the end of 2012. INA is used as a feedstock to produce
commercial insulation and to maintain our position as the leading MDI supplier in the American region,” said the firm, adding that the global market for MDI is expected to continue strongly “well into the next decade.” Huntsman’s proposed investment is expected to complement its previously announced planned expansion in Shanghai, China. The firm operates world-scale MDI facilities in the US, China and the Netherlands.
next generation plasticisers like diisononyl phthalate (DINP) and nonphthalate plasticiser Hexamoll DINCH. These are widely used in industrial applications such as automotive, wires and cables, flooring, building and construction. BASF and Sinopec operate a 50:50 joint venture firm, BASF-YPC, which produces a wide range of chemicals. Entering the PU feedstock market After several years of development of a proprietary technology, Swedish speciality chemicals firm Perstorp is now producing substantial volumes of 1,6-hexanediol to meet the growing market demand, especially for the coatings, sealants, PU elastomers and printing inks sectors. Perstorp has 1,500 employees and manufacturing units in ten countries in Asia, Europe and the US. Sales amount to more than EUR1.45 billion.