Over $150 Million Worth of Investment in China’s Chlor-Alkali Market by Lesser-Known Company

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas). Recently, the chlor-alkali market witnessed a drop in prices and weak demand, but it looks as if the market is shifting into a calmer, more confident state. March is expected to be a rebound month with maintenance turnarounds at pulp and paper plants needing caustic soda and it is hoped that chlorine demand will rise, but that is dependent on the vinyl resins producers.

Most new chlor-alkali capacity and expansion investment is expected to come from Asia and the Middle East over the next two years, due to the regions’ large populations. One such Asian company, Donggang Electrochemical Company, Limited (Ningbo, China), has decided to investment $170 million in its chlor-alkali production in Ningbo. Donggang will expand an existing chlor-alkali unit, add a second chlor-alkali unit and add a vinyl chloride monomer unit.

The first project will be the chlor-alkali unit expansion, which will increase the existing production capacity of 120,000 metric tons per year to a total of 220,000 metric tons per year. Although funding for the $40 million project has only recently been approved, a construction start date of June 2006 has been scheduled and completion is set for April of 2007.

The second project, the chlor-alkali unit addition, is currently in the detailed design phase and expected to require and investment of $80 million. The unit will produce 200,000 metric tons per year once operational in the second half of 2008. This unit will be the second chlor-alkali production unit at the site. After the expansion and addition projects are complete, Donggang will have the capacity to produce 420,000 metric tons a year of chlor-alkali.

The third project being reviewed is a $50 million vinyl chloride monomer production unit that Donggang hopes to begin construction on during the summer of 2007. The unit will produce 100,000 metric tons per year and is expected to be operational in the second half of 2008, similar to the chlor-alkali unit addition.

View Project Report – 88000983

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