Mitsui launches new Chinese plant for compounds

Mitsui Chemicals recently launched its new manufacturing and sales company for performance compounds in China, Mitsui Chemicals Functional Composites (Shanghai). The plant has a capacity of 11,000 tonnes/year of Mitsui’s Milastomer and Admer compounds.

At the ceremony, MFS President, Hideshi Kawachi promised attending Shanghai Jinshan District Government officials and other important guests, “We will undertake every effort to make a significant contribution to the development of the automotive and packaging industries in China together with our customers through environmentally friendly, safe, and stable plant operations.”

MFS is strategically situated in Jinshan District Shanghai, Eastern China, and targets the capture of China’s rapidly growing automotive and packaging material markets. Leveraging the company’s advantages, this March the company commenced manufacture and sales of Milastomer, a thermoplastic elastomer used in automotive window frames and as interior material, and Admer, an adhesive polyolefin used in automotive fuel tanks and food packaging materials.

Milastomer is thermoplastic vulcanisate (TPV) composed of EPDM compounded in a polypropylene (PP) matrix. It is highly flexible, resembling vulcanized rubber, and adapts well to various molding methods. With low density, Milastomer is light-weight with wide applications in the automotive industry and great expectations for its potential to improve fuel consumption. Further, as the material is easily recyclable, economic benefits from reuse of scrap material are reportedly high. Mitsui says it will target China’s expanding demand for TPV automotive glass run channels and better interior material for luxury automobiles. Other applications include mud guards, sealing, and grips.

Admer is an adhesive resin developed by Mitsui using proprietary technology. A modified polyolefin with functional groups, Admer is designed to bond to a variety of polyolefins, ionomers, polyamides, gas barrier resin's such as ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH), ceramics, glass, and metals. Its strong adherence and use with a wide variety of co-extrusion processes allows uses in bottle, tube, sheet, and film applications in various industries including food packaging. Mitsui says with increasing awareness of food safety and hygiene and demand for multi-layer food packaging materials in China, Admer is well placed for applications.