MOSCOW (MRC) -- Arkema has inaugurated the thiochemicals plant, which successfully came on stream in Kerteh, Malaysia, beginning of 2015, but was officially inaugurated on 4 June 2015 in the presence of the main Malaysian authorities, reported Arkema on its site.
This world-scale thiochemicals platform produces methyl mercaptan, a synthesis intermediate for animal feed, as well as dimethyl disulfide (DMDS). The facility strengthens Arkema’s position as the world leader in high added value sulfur derivatives, and is fully consistent with the Group’s growth strategy in Asia.
The construction of the new plant represented investments of some EUR200 million for the Group.
The Group confirms its strong expertise of the production process for methyl mercaptan, a sulfur intermediate that is key to the manufacture of the bio-methionine on the same site by Korean company CJ CheilJedang using an innovative biosourced process.
Furthermore, by doubling its DMDS global capacity, Arkema also sustains the steady growth of the petrochemicals and refining markets.
Arkema now operates world-scale thiochemicals plants in Europe, the United States and Asia.
"This inauguration is a key event in the short history of Arkema and a very major step in its development. This plant represents a new highly promising growth platform for the future. I take this opportunity to congratulate our teams as well as our partners for this remarkable technical success", stated Thierry Le Henaff, Arkema Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
As MRC wrote previously, in 2014, Arkema, a France-based chemical manufacturer and the world’s second leading producer of organic peroxides, announced the construction of a new organic peroxide plant on its Changshu site in China. This investment will help double the site’s production capacity. By doubling its production capacity in China, Arkema will continue to support the strong growth in the organic peroxide market in Asia, a region in which the Group is also a producer in India, South Korea and Japan. The new Changshu plant is due to come on stream in early 2016.
Arkema with annual revenue of EUR6.7 billion is a leading European supplier of chlorochemicals and PVC. Kynar and Kynar Flex are registered trademarks of Arkema Inc. Arkema operates 11 organic peroxide plants on the three continents.
MRC