5 February 2013
Details
Ube Industries
will cease production of Caprolactam
and related derivatives products
at Sakai Factory in Japan
in late March 2014
and factory will be dismantled.
Ube will designate Sakai factory mainly for
value-added specialty production including
- lithum-ion battery materials
in order to strengthen the factory.
Facilities affected (tons per year)
- Caprolactam 100,000
- Ammonia 200,000
- Liquefied carbon dioxide 99,000
- Ammonium sulfate 160,000
- 1,6 hexandiol 5,000
WWW.CHEMWINFO.COM BY KHUN PHICHAI
Reasons for production cease
- Ube Industries has 4 caprolamtam plant in
Ube and Sakai in Japan, Spain and Thailand.
- With economic slowdown starting in 2012,
* growth in demand has weakened while
market conditions have been eroded by the entry of
new manufacturers and successive production expansion of
existing manufacturers centering on chinese companies.
* at the same time, prices for raw material benzene and
auxiliaries materials have risen effecting rapid decline in profit
of caprolactam business.
- Among Ube's 4 manufacturing facilities,
Caprolactam facilities at Sakai factory are the least competitive
due to high manufacturing cost
based on the production technique employed and
the facilities for auxiliaries materials and steam utilities
are based on Liquefied natural gas (LPG) for fuel.
WWW.CHEMWINFO.COM BY KHUN PHICHAI
