Mitsubishi Boosts Polycarbonate Capacity

Mitsubishi Chemical will build a 60,000-metric-ton-per-year polycarbonate plant in Japan and is planning to initiate production in China as well.

The Japanese facility, expected to come on-line in March 2008, will be located at the company's Kurosaki complex on the island of Kyushu. The $210 million project, which involves shutting down one of two existing 20,000-metric-ton polycarbonate units at the site, will double current capacity in Kurosaki to 80,000 metric tons. Mitsubishi will also build a 100,000-metric-ton plant producing the intermediate raw material diphenylcarbonate.

In China, Mitsubishi Engineering Plastics—a 50-50 venture of Mitsubishi Chemical and Mitsubishi Gas Chemical—and partner China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (Sinopec) have signed a letter of intent to build a 60,000-metric-ton polycarbonate unit and a 100,000-metric-ton bisphenol A plant at the site of Sinopec subsidiary Beijing Yanshan Petrochemical. The $190 million project, still at the feasibility study stage, is expected to come on-line in December 2008.

Mitsui Chemicals announced recently that it was building a 120,000-metric-ton bisphenol A plant with Sinopec (C&EN, April 10, page 30).