Kuraray set to start operations at Thai butadiene plant

Kuraray GC Advanced Materials has completed the construction of a new production facility for butadiene derivatives in Thailand.

The plant is set to start operations at the site, Kuraray announced earlier on 9 February.

Established in 2018, Kuraray GC Advanced Materials is a joint venture company owned by Kuraray (53.3%), Thailand’s PTT Global Chemical (33.4%), and Sumitomo Corp. (13.3%) and manufactures and sells butadiene derivatives in Thailand.

Located in the Map Ta Phut petrochemical complex in Rayong province, the plant will have the capacity to produce of 16 kt/year of TPEs based on hydrogenated styrenic block copolymers, and 13kt/year of polyamide 9T.

The products will be marketed under Kuraray brands: Septon HSBC and Genestar PA9T, according to the Japanese company. 

In addition, Kuraray has separately constructed a 5 kt/year plant to produce 3-methyl-1,5-pentanediol (MPD) adjacent to the JV plant.

The Japanese group said its investment in the two plants amounted to Yen40 billion.

The Thai projects are part of Kuraray’s ‘vision 2026’ strategy to be a “speciality chemical company growing sustainably by incorporating new foundational platforms into its own technologies.”