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
Neste Corporation’s Board of Directors has appointed Heikki Malinen, M.Sc. (Econ.), MBA (Harvard) as the President and CEO of Neste as of 2 November 2024, at the latest. Malinen joins Neste from Outokumpu Corporation where he has held the position of President and CEO since 2020.
Petrochemicals company Sasol has announced that CFO and executive director Hanré Rossouw will step down from his position, effective October 31. Sasol has started the process to appoint a successor. Rossouw will still oversee the publication of Sasol’s reports for the financial year ending June 30, to allow for a structured handover period.
Chemours announced its CFO Jonathan Lock has resigned from all positions within the company, according to an SEC 8-K filing on April 23. The resignation comes in the aftermath of the company announcing that Lock, former CEO Mark Newman, and principal accounting officer Camela Wisel, had been placed on administrative leave.
