Out with the Old, in with the New - Micro Chemie Sets Up Melamine Production at the Site of Old Kemira Plant in the Netherlands

---

Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). Leon Lampers and Hans Vrijenhoef established Micro Chemie B V (Rozenburg, The Netherlands) in 2002, with the intention to manufacture melamine for the resins industry. Melamine is mainly used for timber products, paints, varnishes, and laminates. Micro Chemie procured an ammonia terminal from Kemira Chemicals BV (Helsinki, Finland) consisting of two 15,000-ton ammonia storage tanks, a urea production unit, a 15,000 ton urea ammonium nitrate (UAN) storage tank, and two large warehouses in Rozenburg, The Netherlands. Spending approximately $100 million over the next two years, Micro Chemie will focus on restarting a currently mothballed urea production unit that has a 250,000 metric ton a year capacity, as well as construct a new melamine unit with a world-scale production capacity of 50,000 metric tons a year.

Lurgi AG has been selected as the process technology provider for the melamine unit, which should be fully operational by the second half of 2007. Melamine production is dependent on ammonia and carbon dioxide, which is a waste product from most industrial production sites. Utilizing carbon dioxide allows Micro Chemie to conform to the Kyoto Protocol agreements, as well as serving to inspire the company to add other production units to consume the CO2 waste as feedstock in the future.

Since 2000, Industrialinfo.com has tracked a total of seven melamine projects across the globe including grassroot plants and unit additions, with a total investment value of approximately $610 million. The average TIV for these projects is over $87 million. The total production capacity for all seven projects is close to 560,000 metric tons a year. Click on the image at right to see an index of these projects.

View Plant Profile - 1035913
View Project Report - 75000101 75000102

Industrialinfo.com is the leading provider of global industrial market research. We specialize in helping companies develop information solutions to maximize their sales and marketing efforts.