Mitsui Chemicals & SKC Polyurethanes to set up facility in India

Polyurethane system plant, to be located in AP, will aim to tap auto & home appliances industries

Last Updated : Feb 23 2017 | 12:53 PM IST

Mitsui Chemicals & SKC Polyurethanes Co Ltd (MCNS) - a 50:50 joint venture of Japan’s Mitsui Chemicals Inc and South Korea’s SKC Co Ltd - will establish a polyurethane system house, to be named MCNS Polyurethanes India Pvt Ltd, in Andhra Pradesh with initial investment of $ 7.3 million (about Rs 49 crore). System house provides premium services, such as the adjustment of polyurethane foam material formulations - including those derived from polyol - to cater to individual customer needs.

The facility, to be located at Sri City (Nellore district, AP), will manufacture polyurethane system products and have capacity of 13,000 tonnes per annum (TPA). The facility is expected to start commercial operations in January 2018. Polyurethane products are widely used in industries such as automotive, building & construction, consumer durables, textiles & fibres, etc.

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 percent or higher expected. The demand for polyurethane is expected to increase in the country, which produces 4 million cars and 9 million refrigerators annually.

Many Japanese and Korean auto and home appliance manufacturers have developed a presence in the country, especially in Southern India, and MCNS is aiming to tap into this business opportunity by reliably supplying high-quality polyurethane system products with the new system house.

MCNS, through its joint venture Vithal Castor Polyols Pvt Ltd (VCP), already has a facility to manufacture bio-polyol (which is derived from plant sources) in India at Jhagadia, Gujarat. VCP is a joint venture between MCNS, Itoh Oil Chemical Co Ltd and India's Jayant Agro-Organics Ltd. Opened in February last year, the plant, which has a capacity of 8,000 tonne per annum, manufactures bio-polyol using Indian castor oil from non-edible plants as a main raw material.

With the establishment of the system house in AP, MCNS will be able to further develop its polyurethane business in India.

MCNS manufactures and sells urethane materials for wide applications including refrigerator insulation materials. In the automotive field, not only is MCNS the largest supplier of polyurethane materials for interior use to Japanese and Korean makers, it is the only manufacturer in the world to commercially supply bio-polyols derived from non-edible plants.