THE operators of a US$1 billion Shanghai chemical plant have started producing two important components of polyurethanes in a move that will help China reduce its reliance on imports.

The plant will turn out 240,000 tons of crude diphenylmethane diisocyanate, or MDI, and 160,000 tons of toluene disocyanate, or TDI, each year - making it one of the biggest in China. MDI and TDI are raw materials for polyurethanes, which are used in the automotive and construction industries and in refrigerators and footwear.

German chemical giant BASF AG, America's Huntsman Corp and three Chinese partners inaugurated the complex in the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park in the city's southwestern Caojing area.

China will become the world's biggest market for polyurethanes by 2015 based on annual growth rate of around 10 percent, BASF board member John Feldmann said at the opening ceremony.

"You just should not underestimate the growth in demand for MDI and TDI here," said Feldfmann, whose company aims to achieve 20 percent of its global sales in its chemical activities in Asia by 2010, with China contributing half of them.

The three Chinese companies involved in the project are Shanghai Huayi (Group) Co, Sinopec Shanghai Gaoqiao Petrochemical Corp and Shanghai Chlor-Alkali Chemical Co. BASF and Huntsman have each taken a 35 percent stake in the venture, with the three Chinese companies owning the remainder, company officials said.

China's annual domestic polyurethane consumption exceeds 2 million tons, and the country has to import a large amount of MDI and TDI because of lack of local production.

BASF said earlier that it's considering building another MDI plant with the same partners. Another German chemicals maker, Bayer AG, has a wholly owned 350,000 ton MDI and 150,000 ton TDI complex under construction in the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park.

Source:佚名