Celanese officially inaugurates acetic acid plant in Singapore
Celanese AG (Kronberg, Germany) officially inaugurated its acetic acid plant in Singapore in the presence of Singapore's Minister for Trade and Industry George Yeo. With an annual capacity of 500,000 metric tons, the plant is one of three which make up Celanese's acetyls complex on Jurong Island, the industrial park in the South of Singapore.
"This integrated complex, in which we have invested around U.S.$300 million, represents a milestone for Celanese. It will enable us to significantly strengthen our position in the dynamic Asian growth region," said Claudio Sonder, CEO of Celanese AG.
As early as July 1997, Celanese started up a vinyl acetate plant with an annual capacity of 170,000 metric tons on Jurong Island. At the beginning of this year, an acetate ester plant with a capacity of 100,000 metric tons went into operation.
The new acetic acid plant, which took around two years to construct, makes use of the same technology as the plant in Clear Lake, TX, upon which it was modeled. This acid optimization (AO) production process, which has been patented by Celanese Chemicals, enables acetic acid to be produced particularly inexpensively on the basis of methanol and carbon monoxide (CO).
Around 40% of the acetic acid produced on Jurong Island will be further processed in Celanese's own facilities. Singapore is the world's largest port and opens the gateway to the whole of Asia, enabling products to be transported quickly to export markets which, for Celanese, will be mostly in Asia and Europe.
Expanding in Asia
By starting up production at the new acetic acid plant, Celanese is significantly expanding its presence in Asia. Both Celanese Chemicals and Technical Polymers Ticona have established a number of joint ventures with Asian partners. In all, Celanese AG has production facilities at 10 different locations in Asia.
Celanese has set up and expanded its Asian activities mainly via joint ventures with local partners. Three months ago, Celanese announced that it is also planning a joint venture with Shanghai Wujing Chemical Corporation for the production of acetic acid in China. The plant would meet the rapidly climbing demand for acetic acid in the country.
Ticona's strong foothold in Asia
The Technical Polymers Ticona business segment has also considerably strengthened and expanded its presence in Asia. At the end of last year, for example, Celanese AG's technical polymers business purchased a 50% stake in Korea Engineering Plastics (KEP) Co. Ltd. for U.S.$95 million. The purchase of the share in KEP, a leading producer of the technical polymer polyacetal (POM), enabled Ticona, the global market leader, to strengthen its position in the Asian-Pacific region.
In Asia, most of Ticona's products are marketed by its longstanding partner Polyplastics Co. Ltd. Ticona holds a 45% interest in the joint venture with Daicel Chemical Industries, which was established in 1968. At its headquarters in Fuji, Japan, Polyplastics operates a production plant with an annual capacity of 100,000 metric tons of polyacetal. At the beginning of July this year, Polyplastics also began production at a new POM plant with an annual capacity of 30,000 metric tons at Kuantan, Malaysia.
Edited by David Nakamura
Managing Editor, Hydrocarbon Online