Construction of AN and MMA plants in Thailand

Tue, 25 March 2008

Asahi Kasei Chemicals Corp. (AKCC), PTT Public Company Limited of Thailand, and Marubeni Corp. have reached agreement to construct acrylonitrile (AN) and methyl methacrylate (MMA) plants in Thailand through a joint venture. Production capacities will be 200 thousand tons/year of AN and 70 thousand tons/year of MMA, with start-up scheduled for late 2010.

AKCC’s AN business is the largest in Asia, where steady market growth is forecast, and the second largest in the world. Identified as a global growth business in the Asahi Kasei Group’s Growth Action – 2010 strategic mid-term initiative, the AN business is a high priority for expansion through focused allocation of management resources.

The new AN plant in Thailand will use the world’s first commercial process for AN production from propane feedstock, a process developed by AKCC. The use of competitive-cost propane as feed enables lower production cost than the conventional process for AN, which relies on propylene feed. With a stable, competitive supply of propane secured by PTT, the new plant will enjoy exceptional cost competitiveness in the global market for AN, serving as an important key in the strategic expansion of AKCC’s AN business.

The new plant will also raise AKCC’s total AN supply capacity to nearly match that of the world-leading position, and AKCC is planning an additional AN plant in the Middle East which will secure the company’s place as the world’s largest supplier upon targeted start-up by 2014.

By using hydrogen cyanide byproduct from the AN plant as feedstock for MMA production with the acetone cyanohydrin (ACH) process, the new MMA plant in Thailand will achieve superior cost competitiveness as AKCC increases market share through expanded sales in the growing markets of Asia.