Chemical trio advance butadiene project

Tokyo – Japan’s Kuraray Co. Ltd and Sumitomo Corp. and Thailand’s PTT Global Chemical Public Co. Ltd (PTTGC) have signed a joint venture agreement for manufacturing and sales of butadiene derivatives, Kuraray announced 7 March.

Based on the agreement the JV company will produce heat resistant polyamide (PA9T) and hydrogenated styrenic block copolymer (HSBC) products in Thailand.

Hemaraj Eastern Industrial Estate (Map Ta Phut complex) in Rayong, Thailand, has been identified as a candidate production site.

The decision builds on an agreement signed in September 2016 to conduct a front-end engineering design (FEED) study for the project.

According to previous announcements, the JV will produce 13,000 tonnes/year of PA9T and 16,000 tons/year of HSBC.

Kuraray did not give further details on the possibility producing 3-methyl-1,5-pentanediol, one of the company’s isobutene derivatives. It was previously announced that the plant would have the capacity to produce 5,000 tonnes/year of the product.

PTTGC will supply butadiene and isobutene as key raw materials for the new plant.

Kuraray will hold 53.3% of the shares in the JV, while PTTG will own 33.4% of the shares and Sumitomo 13.3% of the shares.

The companies are yet to decide on the name and the headquarter location of the JV.