DuPont banks on auto and electronics sectors in China

DuPont Performance Materials (DPM)’s sales volume in China has grown by 8% over a period of four years from 2012-2016, said Tina Wu, Business Director of the unit in Asia Pacific, speaking to the media in Guangzhou, a day before Chinaplas 2017.

“In 2016, China’s business represented 55% of the Asia Pacific market and 23% of global in volume.”

Meanwhile, the US-headquartered materials company is also witnessing exponential growth in two markets in China: automotive and electronics.

“The business for the automotive sector grew by 37% in 2016,” said Wu, adding that China accounted for 31% of light vehicle market globally in 2014. It is for this reason that DPM is in an opportune position to capture the lightweight-technology automotive sector in the country, she said.

As for the consumer electronics market in China, it is also expected to boom, with major brands like Samsung and Apple and the likes of emerging key local OEMs, such as Huawei, Oppo and Vivo, witnessing rising activity in the country.

“DPM’s high performance materials are seeing high consumption growth in the consumer electronics sector,” explained Wu.

To cater to its Chinese customers, DuPont started up its Shenzhen compounding site last year, and it has grown to be the company’s largest in its network. It produces a wide range of products including Crastin PBTs, Zytel HTN PPA, Rynite PET and Zytel nylons.

Meanwhile, officials at the press conference said the Dow/DuPont merger is set to be completed by August this year. The new company to be known as DowDuPont, has received approval from the European Commission and the Chinese authorities.

The new company will be split off into three separate companies, including an agriculture company with US$19 billion in revenue, a material science company with US$51 billion in revenue and a speciality products company with US$13 billion in revenue.

The merger plans between the two companies have already been delayed as the two companies were originally planning to complete the merger process in December 2016. http://plasticsandrubberasia.com/aug2016/company5.html

Plans to merge were first announced by the two companies in December 2015.

(PRA)