China Expansions: Sumitomo Bakelite opens epoxy resin moulding compounds plant; Ningxia Coal selects LyondellBasell HDPE tech for Ningxia plant

Sumitomo Bakelite Co’s group company in China has completed the construction of a new plant for epoxy resin moulding compounds for encapsulation of semiconductor devices. The investment cost is around US$40 million and the new plant is scheduled to begin full-scale mass production in 2025 as work progresses toward its official operation.

Sumitomo Bakelite Co., Ltd. holds the worldwide leading position in semiconductor encapsulation materials with a market share of approximately 40%, it says. In order to meet customer needs, the firm has been expanding its production capacity in the growing China market, starting production in 1997 and expanding production lines at the current plant in 2021.

The new plant was completed and a completion ceremony was held recently inviting the Suzhou Industrial Park Management Committee, Suzhou local government officials, and those who contributed to the construction of the plant.

The new plant will ensure sufficient supply capacity by securing new land and building a plant in the Suzhou Industrial Park so as to expand SSB's total production capacity by 1.3 times. In addition to the traditional semiconductor-related applications such as smartphones, personal computers, and home appliances, the plant will increase its share in the China market for power devices, mobility applications, and advanced AI applications.

The company adds that the plant will employ process automation, automatic process monitoring system utilising AI and IoT, and fully adopt electricity derived from renewable energy in compliance with China's increasingly stringent safety and environmental regulations. In addition, the plant will contribute to achieving carbon neutrality by installing the latest environmental protection equipment and producing products in a safe, secure, environmentally friendly, and energy-efficient manner.

The group has four plants of epoxy moulding compounds for encapsulation of semiconductor devices in the Asian region, including China and Japan.

In other news, licensor of polyolefin technologies LyondellBasell has announced China Energy Group Ningxia Coal Industry Co (China Energy Group Ningxia Coal) has selected LYB Hostalen Advanced Cascade Process (Hostalen ACP) technology for a 300 kilotonnes/year high density polyethylene (HDPE) plant. The new facility will be built at Yinchuan City, Ningxia Hui Autonomous region, China.  

“China Energy Group Ningxia Coal selection of our technology reaffirms LYB credibility in the polyethylene market,” said Patrik Schneider, senior director global licensing & services at LYB. “Further, with this license, the global nameplate capacity of Hostalen ACP will exceed 13 million tonnes/year, which demonstrates the success of this leading technology.” 

“The selection of the Hostalen ACP low-pressure slurry process technology was key to us as in the current market environment the production capability is key to differentiate in the market,” said Zhou Jiliang, senior project manager of China Energy Group Ningxia Coal. “The Hostalen ACP process technology and related Ziegler catalyst chemistry allows us best to deliver on that demanding goal.”  

The Hostalen ACP process technology manufactures high performance, multi-modal HDPE resins with stiffness/toughness balance, impact resistance, high stress cracking resistance and process advantages used in pressure pipe, film, blow moulding and caps/closure applications.  

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