Mitsui Venture Sets Bisphenol Plant

Hi-Bis, a joint venture owned 35% by Mitsui & Co., 55% by Mitsui subsidiary Honshu Chemical, and 10% by Bayer, is building a plant to produce bisphenol TMC in Bitterfeld, Germany. The facility, which is planned to start up in mid-2014, will double bisphenol TMC capacity at the site at a cost of about $65 million. The plant will supply raw material for Bayer’s Apec, a heat-resistant and transparent polycarbonate used in lighting and electronics. Sales of Apec are growing “significantly faster” than the overall plastics market, Bayer says.