Nippon Shokubai Hikes Superabsorbents

Seeking to enhance its role as a top global supplier of superabsorbent acrylic polymers, Japan’s Nippon Shokubai will build a new plant in Indonesia. The company is also nearing completion of a 60,000-metric-ton-per-year facility in Japan. To cope with surging demand for the materials, mostly used in disposable diapers, Shokubai will spend roughly $35 million to build a 30,000-metric-ton facility at its Indonesian subsidiary NSI. NSI already produces acrylic acid, the key raw material for superabsorbent polymers. The new plant is scheduled to come on-stream in 2013, bringing Shokubai’s total capacity for the polymers to 500,000 metric tons.