Mitsubishi Chemical says it is exploring options to quit its major purified terephthalic acid (PTA) joint venture, MCC PTA India (Kolkata) because of poor performance.
“MCC PTA India’s performance has been weak due to supply demand imbalance in Asia caused by China’s excessive overproduction and aggressive export from China. As we do not expect that this situation will be resolved in the short term, we are considering various measures in parallel with other options for rationalization. However, nothing has been decided yet,” Mitsubishi tells CW. The plant, located at Haldia in West Bengal, has capacity to produce 1.27 million m.t./year of PTA, accounting for 30% of Mitsubishi Chemical’s global PTA tonnage. It also has PTA plants at Merak, Indonesia, which has a capacity for 640,000 m.t./year; Ningbo, China, with 600,000 m.t./year; and offtake rights in South Korea.
Mitsubishi Chemical has 76% stake in MCC PTA India and Sojitz, Marubeni, Toyota Tsusho and the State Government of West Bengal has 8%, 6%, 5% and 5%, respectively. Mitsubishi is reportedly in talks with the Chatterjee Group, owners of nearby Haldia Petrochemicals, to sell MCC PTA India.
Mitsubishi recently reported an impairment loss incurred in the October–December 2015 quarter for its MCC PTA India and Ningbo Mitsubishi Chemical (Ningbo, China) subsidiaries.
By Natasha Alperowicz
Source: Chemical Week
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