South Korea’s engineering plastics producer Kolon Plastics (Gincheon) and BASF on Wednesday signed an agreement to establish a joint venture in Korea to manufacture polyoxymethylene (POM), an engineering plastic used in industrial, transportation, construction and consumer applications.
The 50:50 joint venture, Kolon BASF innoPOM, will have an annual capacity of 70,000 m.t./year. It will be located at the existing manufacturing site of Kolon Plastics at Gimcheon, which already includes production of POM. The start of operation is scheduled for the second half of 2018 creating in total the world’s largest complex for the production of POM, the companies say.
Both companies have long-term experience in POM production and will use Kolon’s production technology in the new plant. “In the new joint venture the strengths of each company will be reinforced enhancing our overall competitiveness. Kolon Plastics’ globally leading technology and the efficiencies of the existing infrastructure will generate significant synergies. We are looking forward to this joint venture that may lead to further opportunities for cooperation,” said Hee Goo Jang, CEO of Kolon Plastics.
The products are to be marketed separately by the two companies under their respective trade names and proprietary formulations.
Following the start-up of the new plant in Korea in the second half of 2018, BASF will discontinue production of POM at Ludwigshafen. POM resins are engineering plastics used in complex and highly durable components. Their high strength and resilience, friction performance and chemical resistance enable a broad range of applications used in automotive manufacturing as well as for electric and electronic goods, consumer goods, medical products and construction. Kolon markets its POM product line under the trade name Kocetal while BASF sells POM under the Ultraform trade mark.
By Natasha Alperowicz
Source: Chemical Week
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