11 September 2014
Detail
today announced that its Thai subsidiary,
UBE Fine Chemicals (Asia) Co., Ltd.,
will open a production facility for
polycarbonate diol (PCD)
to meet rising global demand.
The new facility is designed to
manufacture 3,000 tonnes of PCD annually and
is scheduled to start production in October 2015.
The completion of the new production facility in Thailand
will bring the UBE Group's annual production capacity
up to 11,000 tonnes, including
* 2,000 tonnes in Japan,
* 6,000 tonnes in Spain, and the
* 3,000 tonnes in Thailand.
With the addition of the new facility, the UBE Group will
strengthen its global supply network
as the largest manufacturer of PCD in the world.
PCD, Polycarbonate Diol
is one of Ube Industries' core products
in the fine chemicals segment.
It is mainly used as a polyol component
in the principal raw material in high-grade polyurethane.
In comparison with conventional polyurethane products
that are based on polyester and polyether,
PCD-based polyurethane
offers superior performance in
resistance to heat, hydrolysis, oil, and weather (UV).
It also excels in many other ways, including
when used as a high-grade material with a smooth texture.
For these reasons, demand for PCD-based polyurethane
has been growing rapidly in recent years.
Applications for PCD-based polyurethane are
expanding as more and more users recognize
it as a highly functional new material suitable
in a wide range of fields, including
* automotive, furniture, building materials,
* coatings for electronic devices, artificial leather,
* adhesives, and other products.
In addition to its high durability, which helps to save resources,
there is also growing demand for PCD as
* a raw material for environmentally responsible
water-based paints that use
polyurethane dispersion (PUD) technology.
These paints contain no solvents and fill a need in
an environment of increasingly strict regulation of
volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
Since the UBE Group itself manufactures
the principal components used to make
* PCD-1,6-hexanediol and
* dimethyl carboxylate (DMC)
-its PCD is highly cost competitive.
The Group will also focus on developing new grades of PCD
that meet the needs of users and
on providing customer support,
by pursuing enhanced global technical cooperation
among its operations in Japan, Spain, and Thailand.
The Group intends to make the most of
these strengths to take advantage of market growth and
reinforce its position as the world's top PCD manufacturer.
WWW.CHEMWINFO.COM BY KHUN PHICHAI
