Operations Return

Mitsui Chemicals Inc. is considering building a phenol plant in Singapore as well as expanding its R&D center there.  The company has secured a plot of land on Jurong Island for the phenol plant and plans to make a definite decision on the plant during the next few months.  If built, the plant will likely begin production in two years with an annual output capacity of 250,000 to 300,000 tons.  They expect to triple the staff at the R&D plant by the end of next year and expand the size of the facility five times to 1,200 square meters.

Investment

Taiwanese petrochemical companies plan to invest in naphtha cracking operations in China once the Taiwan government lifts a ban on this.  The companies have already invested in China on a small scale, but hope that the move into sectors like cracking and refining will help them expand in their main export market and integrate their supply chains.

Expansion

Dow Water Solutions, the water treatment business unit of the Dow Chemical Co., will establish a global Water Technology Development Center at its facilities in Tarragona, Spain.  The center will do product application development and component testing to accelerate Dow’s commercialization of its membrane and ultra-filtration technologies for drinking water treatment.  The company expects to invest $15 million and open the facility by late next year.