Expansions: Nouryon starts production at Chinese intermediate facility; Total/Corbion PLA plant in Thailand reaches capacity milestone

Speciality chemicals firm Nouryon has started production at a new manufacturing facility located at its site in Ningbo, China, to meet increasing demand in the Asia region for polymers used in the Packaging, Paints and Coatings and Construction end-markets. The facility, which began development in 2020, has a capacity of 35,000 tonnes/year and will produce two key intermediates – tert-Butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP) and tert-Butyl alcohol (TBA) – which are essential ingredients in the production of polymers and composites.

“Nouryon is pleased to further support our customers across Asia now that operations are up and running at our new China facility,” said Alain Rynwalt, Vice President of Polymer Specialties at Nouryon. “This investment supports Nouryon’s commitment to meet the growing needs of our customers in the region for products such as safe and hygienic food packaging, paint resins and PVC pipes.”

Sobers Sethi, Senior Vice President of Emerging Markets and China at Nouryon, said: “Asia is a key region for Nouryon and the Ningbo site plays a pivotal role in achieving our growth targets. The investment in this new facility underlines our strategy of strengthening our presence in attractive high-growth markets.”

Nouryon has a long history in the development of organic peroxide solutions, going as far back as the early 1920s.

“Nouryon is the market leader in Polymer Specialties because of our technology leadership, innovation focus and our global manufacturing footprint,” said Johan Landfors, Executive Vice President and President of Technology Solutions at Nouryon. “This facility allows Nouryon to further strengthen the reliability of our regional supply of organic peroxides in Asia.”

Nouryon’s Ningbo site is comprised of six manufacturing facilities that produce chelating agents, organic peroxides, ethylene amines, cellulose ethers and surfactants. In Asia, Nouryon produces organic peroxides in Ningbo and Tianjin, China; Asa, Japan; and Mahad, India.

Meanwhile in other news, materials firm Total Corbion PLA’s plant in Rayong, Thailand, has, since its grand opening in 2019, reached a cumulative production volume of 100 kilotonnes of Luminy PLA. The plant is now running at name plate capacity of 75 kilotonnes/year in order to meet the demand for PLA bioplastics.

Total Corbion PLA opened its first PLA plant in Rayong, Thailand in 2019. Since that time, it has also announced its intention to build a second PLA plant with 100 kilotonnes/year capacity in Grandpuits, France, which will be the first of its kind in Europe.

Luminy PLA resins are biobased and made from annually renewable resources, offering a reduced carbon footprint versus many traditional plastics. At the end of their useful life, PLA products can be mechanically or chemically recycled. The biodegradable and compostable functionalities of PLA make it the material of choice for a wide range of markets and applications, including fresh fruit packaging, food serviceware, durable consumer goods, toys and 3D printing. Luminy PLA can be a more sustainable alternative to established oil-based plastics that might not have as many end-of-life avenues available to them and many producers are making the switch to bioplastics for this reason.

Simon Goldney, Plant Director at Total Corbion PLA, is proud of the achievement: “As with any new plant, the ramp-up phase is critical to reaching full capacity production, and we are extremely proud that our dedicated and passionate team in Thailand have reached this important milestone of 100kT cumulative PLA production.”

François de Bie, Senior Marketing & Supply Chain Director at Total Corbion PLA recognizes the need for PLA bioplastics in the market: “We see a rapidly increasing demand from our customers and partners, whether that be supplying existing supply chains or seeding and supporting new development projects. We’ll be striving towards achieving the next 100kT in an even shorter timeframe and continuing to enable the circular economy even further.”

(PRA)

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