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In this Edition March 2012 |
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Company News
Styrolution pumps up capacity in Asia
M
onths after its birth as a joint venture between Germany-based BASF and UK firm Ineos, styrenics maker Styrolution is undertaking to upgrade its styrene copolymer facility in Germany, establish a 40 kilotonne/year-line for ASA in South Korea and expand its ABS speciality capacity in India to 110 kilotonnes/year. It will also cut its PS and styrene monomer supply from Ineos.Upgrading the production facilities for styrene copolymers (marketed under the trademarks Luran, Luran S, Terluran HH/HD and Terlux) in Ludwigshafen, Germany, will enable Styrolution to improve supply reliability.
The production facilities for copolymers will be equipped with modern logistics and process control systems. Production and underlying supply chain and filling processes will be decoupled. It is anticipated that the upgrading will be finished in the first quarter of 2013.
The new Luran S production line in Ulsan, South Korea, will help Styrolution capture opportunities in Asia with a focus on China. Luran S is the trademark for Styrolution's ASA grades (acrylonitrile styrene acrylate copolymers). The production line in Ulsan will complement current capacity in Europe and the US. Operation is expected to start at the beginning of July 2012.
The expansion of ABS specialties (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) capacity in Vadodara, India, will foster growth by enabling the company to meet increased domestic demand for its products. The capacity expansion will be achieved through debottlenecking, which involves installing an additional SAN (styrene acrylonitrile resin) line and expanding compounding capacity by 2014.
To further improve capacity utilisation of its European sites, Styrolution intends to cancel all offtake from the PS and styrene monomer plants in Marl, Germany, which are operated by Ineos Industries. The PS plants have a capacity of 180 kilotonnes and the styrene monomer plant has a capacity of 350 kilotonnes/year.
This decision is part of Styrolution's strategy to focus on commodity production facilities that are ideally positioned in the first and second quartile of the cost curve and to improve the competitive position of its European styrene-based commodity business by maximising capacity utilisation at other sites. Supply of PS and styrene from Marl is expected to continue until the fourth quarter of 2012.
Headquartered in Germany, the firm has annual sales of about US$8.3 billion and employs 3,400 at 17 sites worldwide.