MOSCOW (MRC) -- Mitsui Prime Advanced Compounds Europe, a joint venture in which Mitsui Chemicals has 75%, Mitsui & Co. 15% and Prime Polymer Co. 10%, has commissioned its first polypropylene (PP) compounding plant in Europe, said Chemweek.
Located at the Chemelot Industrial Park at Geleen, Netherlands, the facility is designed to produce 30,000 metric tons/year of PP compounds.
Mitsui Chemicals says the new plant will allow it to provide effective lightweighting solutions to automakers and auto parts manufacturers with European bases while also responding to global demand growth. The company says it will have access to 50,000 metric tons/year of PP compounds in Europe, including outsourced material.
At present, Mitsui Chemicals operates production sites in eight regions, including Asia and the Americas. In the Americas it has production facilities in Ohio and Tennessee; Mexico; and Brazil with a combined total of 440,000 metric tons/year of PP compounds. Its Asian operations are based in China, Japan, India and Thailand with a combined total of 630,000 metric tons/year of PP compounds. In total, following completion of the plant in the Netherlands and access to outsourced material, it now has 1.12 million metric tons/year of PP compounds at its disposal.
Mitsui Chemicals says that while forecasts point to reduced automotive production volume around the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is expected that the global needs for automotive lightweighting will continue to rise on the back of more stringent environmental regulations. The company expects that there will be a continuous demand for PP compounds for use in bumpers, instrument panels and other auto parts.
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market were 192,760 tonnes in January-February 2020, down by 6% year on year. Homopolymer PP accounted for the main decrease in imports.
Mitsui Chemicals is a leading manufacturer and supplier of value added specialty chemicals, plastics and materials for the automotive, healthcare, packaging, agricultural, building, and semiconductor and electronics markets. Mitsui Chemicals is a Japanese Chemicals company, a part of the Mitsui conglomerate. The company has a turnover of around 15 billion USD and has business interests in Japan, Europe, China, Southeast Asia and the USA. The company mainly deals in performance materials, petro and basic chemicals and functional polymeric materials.
MRC