Celanese to build emulsions plant in China
US-based global producer of value-added industrial chemicals, Celanese Corporation, has announced that it is to construct a state-of-the-art Vinyl Acetate Ethylene and Conventional Emulsion Polymer facility in China. The site selection process is said to be at 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 CEO 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 and its global emulsions business now has 10 production facilities in Europe and North America which serve a wide variety of markets, including textiles, paints and coatings, adhesives, non-wovens, glassfibre, construction, and paper. The company 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 ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMW-PE) plant in Asia that will be operational in the second half of 2007.
