Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Selects E&C Firm For New Nylon-MXD6 Plant In Virginia

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources Incorporated; Houston, Texas). Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi (TOKYO SE:8058T) (Tokyo, Japan), plans to construct a plant in Richmond Virginia to produce approximately 10,000 metric tons per year of Nylon-MXD6. The $14 million project will be constructed in Chesterfield County at the Ruffin Mill industrial park.

James N Gray Company has been awarded the engineering and construction contract and will begin bidding subcontractor bids in May of this year. Construction is slated to begin September 2003 and should be completed April 2004.

Mitsubishi is known for their production and marketing of top quality polymers and is the world's leading supplier of Nylon-MXD6. This location was chosen in an effort to provide better service and more reliable supply to customers in North America. This plant will be the first plant outside of Japan to produce the high gas barrier Nylon-MXD6 product. See related article Mitsubishi to Construct Grassroot Nylon MXD6 Plant in Virginia

The raw material used in the production of MXD6 is metaxylene diamine and is a feedstock that is produced solely by Mitsubishi Gas Chemical. MXD6 stands for m-xylene diamine and has a high gas barrier used in a variety of flexible food packaging applications as well as in the automotive industries. The superior gas barrier performs better than other materials because it provides packaging that is more airtight and maintains freshness in highly humid environments.

Mitsubishi forecasts a 20% growth for this product over the next year seeing the strongest demand in multilayer PET bottles. Soon the company will be targeting the carbonated drinks, juice and beer markets.