B ecause the high-activity catalyst it employs enables much faster reaction, the production capacity of Sumitomo’s lcp plant in Ehime, Japan, can be doubled to 4000 tonnes/yr with the installation of new catalyst feed equipment at minimal investment, says the company. Such an expansion would close Sumitomo’s number-two position in the Japanese market behind Ticona affiliate Polyplastics, which has 4800 t/yr of capacity in Fuji, Japan. Other leading lcp suppliers include Solvay Advanced Polymers, Ticona, Eastman, and DuPont. The global market is 21,000 tonnes, of which around 12,000 tonnes are derived from the Asia-Pacific region.
