Japanese, Korean partners plan polyurethane system house in India

Mitsui Chemicals & SKC Polyurethanes (MCNS), a 50:50 joint venture of Japan’s Mitsui Chemicals and South Korea’s SKC, has decided to establish a polyurethane system house in the state of Andhra Pradesh, in Southern India. to meet an anticipated increase in polyurethane demand from the automotive and appliance industries.

With a population estimated at 1.3 billion people, India is the world’s seventh largest economic power in GDP terms, with annual economic growth of 7% or higher expected. India produces 4 million cars and 9 million refrigerators annually, and demand for polyurethane is also expected to increase.

Many Japanese and Korean auto and home appliance manufacturers have developed a presence in the country, especially in Southern India, and MCNS will expand its business by reliably supplying high-quality polyurethane system products from the system house.

MCNS was established in July 2015, combining the polyurethane businesses of Mitsui Chemicals and SKC. It supplies polyurethane system products from system houses in 10 locations around the world, including the United States, Mexico, China and Poland, based on a production capacity of 280,000 tonnes /year of polyol, 250,000 tonnes/year of MDI, and 120,000 tonnes/year of TDI.

With the establishment of the system house this time, MCNS will develop its business in India and accelerate the strengthening of its global competitiveness by expanding system house businesses, mainly in areas other than India where high growth is expected. The systems house will have capacity of 13,000 tonnes/year. Construction will start in March 2017, with completion in December 2017 and commencement of commercial operations scheduled for January 2018.