Asahi Chemical Ind. Co., Ltd. (Asahi;
President, Kazumoto Yamamoto) and The Dow Chemical Company
of the U.S. (Dow; CEO, William S. Stavropoulos) today
concluded an agreement for the construction of a polystyrene
production facility (capacity, 120,000 t/yr) by their
joint venture SAL Petrochemical (Zhangjiagang) Company
Ltd. (SAL Petrochemical) in China.
The PS plant represents a strong new
strategic base for the joint operations of Asahi and
Dow for polystyrene in the Asia region, and will strengthen
and expand the polystyrene business base of Asahi, in
concert with the operations of A&M Styrene Co., Ltd.,
the joint venture in Japan of Asahi and Mitsubishi Chemical
Company which is scheduled to integrate the polystyrene
production and R&D capabilities from both parent companies
in addition to its current polystyrene sales and marketing
capabilities on October 1, 1999.
Background of Accord
Asahi and Dow currently serve the Chinese and ASEAN markets
for polystyrene through SAL, their equally-owned joint venture
based in Hong Kong since its establishment in 1994.
To the present, the demand for PS in China has largely been
met by imports, and SAL itself has supplied the Chinese market
with polystyrene produced by its parent companies in mainly
Hong Kong and Japan. With the trend of substantially rising
demand for polystyrene in the Chinese market and the difficulties
of meeting this demand with existing facilities, strong requests
have grown in China for the establishment of a strong polystyrene
production base there, which would ensure a prompt, stable
supply to both Chinese and Japanese-affiliated companies there
and would strengthen the cost-competitive position in that
market.
In the light of this emerging need, Asahi and Dow established
the equally-owned joint venture SAL Petrochemical (Zhangjiagang)
in October 1998, following receipt of approval from the Chinese
Government, for the production and sale of polystyrene. Progress
then began for acquisition and preparation of the plant site
and grounds, together with the development of specific planning
of plant construction and operations, leading to accord and
conclusion of the agreement today by Asahi and Dow, for plant
construction.
Corporate Profile of the Joint Venture
| Name: |
SAL Petrochemical (Zhangjiagang)
Company Ltd. |
| Establishment: |
October 13, 1998 |
| Location: |
Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu, China |
| Capitalization: |
US$26.8 million |
| Shareholders: |
50%, Asahi Chemical; 50%, Dow Chemical |
| Plant capacity: |
Polystyrene 120,000 t/year |
| Construction schedule: |
Groundbreaking: End of 1999 |
|
Commercial start-up: Beginning
of 2002 |
| |
- Reference:
- Corporate Profiles, Asahi Chemical
and Dow Chemical
- Asahi Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.
| Head Office: |
1-2, Yurakucho 1-chome, Chiyoda-ku
Tokyo, Japan |
| Paid-in Capital: |
103.4 billion YEN (March 31,
1999) |
| Sales: |
1,171.8 billion YEN (Consolidated-base;
fiscal 1998) |
| Employees: |
29,263 (March 31, 1999) |
- The Dow Chemical Company
| Head Office: |
Midland, Michigan, U. S. A. |
| Paid-in Capital: |
$818 million (December 31,
1998) |
| Sales: |
$18.4 billion (fiscal 1998) |
| Employees: |
39,000 |
|
