Mitsui plans TPV compounding plant in Shanghai

Chasing booming demand from the automotive sector for glass run channel materials for automobile windows and from sheathing applications, Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. (Tokyo) plans to set up an 11,000-tonnes/yr compounding plant in Shanghai for its Milastomer thermoplastic vulcanizate (TPV). The plant will also manufacture Admer, a maleic anhydride-modified polyolefin resin used as an adhesive for automobile fuel tanks and food packaging.

Mitsui Chemicals Functional Composites (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., located in the Jinshan District of Shanghai, will commence commercial operation in October 2014. In the future, the company will also serve as a compounding base for automotive polypropylene grades for supply to automakers in Eastern China.

In China, demand for Milastomer has grown in line with increased use of cross-linked thermoplastic elastomers in glass run channels of automobiles and demand for more luxurious automobile interior materials according to Mitsui Chemicals. Milastomer can also be employed as a skin material in place of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) elastomers.

Similarly, the market for Admerhas grown along with wider applications of resins in automobile fuel tanks and spreading awareness of food safety resulting in the increased use of barrier food packaging materials.