August 23, 2000
Asahi Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.
Mitsui Chemicals, Inc.
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| Transfer
of sodium cyanide operation |
Asahi Chemical and Mitsui Chemicals
have concluded an agreement regarding the transfer of
the business rights for the sodium cyanide (NaCN) operations
of Mitsui Chemicals to Asahi Chemical, through which
Asahi Chemical will begin sodium cyanide operations.
Background:
Mitsui Chemicals produces
NaCN (capacity: 11,000 t/y) and other hydrogen cyanide
(HCN) derivatives using HCN synthesized from natural
gas at a plant in Mobara City, Chiba Prefecture. As
part of a program to optimize its production bases,
Mitsui Chemicals has earmarked its Mobara site as a
production center for industrial resins and electronics
materials, with operations in HCN and derivatives being
reevaluated.
Asahi Chemical has utilized HCN by-product
from its acrylonitrile (AN) plant in Kawasaki City,
Kanagawa Prefecture, to produce acetone cyanohydrin
(ACH) for use as feedstock to produce methyl methacrylate
(MMA). With the January 1999 start-up of an MMA plant
using the direct oxidative esterification process,
a new process which does not involve ACH, Asahi Chemical
sought an opportunity to commercially utilize by-product
HCN to achieve synergy which would heighten the competitiveness
of its AN operations.
The agreed business transfer thus
accommodates both companies’ strategic needs.
Essentials of the agreement, related
developments:
- Mitsui Chemicals will transfer
its NaCN business rights to Asahi Chemical on October
1, 2000.
- Asahi Chemical will construct a
plant at its Kawasaki site to produce NaCN from
by-product HCN. Construction is scheduled to begin
in fall 2000, with start-up scheduled for January
2002.
- In the interim between the business
transfer and the start-up of Asahi Chemical’s
NaCN plant, Mitsui Chemicals will produce NaCN on
consignment at its Mobara plant for sale by Asahi
Chemical. Transactions with NaCN users after the
transfer will essentially continue as at present,
through trading companies such as Mitsui & Co.,
Ltd.
- In addition to the NaCN agreement,
an agreement has been concluded for Asahi Chemical
to supply Mitsui Chemicals with methacrylonitrile
(MAN) for use in the production of methacrylamide.
Mitsui Chemicals presently produces methacrylamide
through a process using ACH, but will change to
a biological production process using MAN as feedstock.
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