Nippon Shokubai to set up 50,000-MT superabsorbent polymers plant in Japan

Nippon Shokubai Co Ltd has decided to expand superabsorbent polymers (SAP) production capacity at its Himeji plant, Japan, to meet its strong growth. Global demand for SAP has been increasing at 6-7% annually reflecting the growth of diaper, which is major application of superabsorbent polymers. To satisfy this strong demand quickly, Nippon Shokubai has decided to build a new SAP plant with an annual capacity of 50,000 metric tonne (MT) per annum at Himeji plant. Nippon Shokubai will apply our latest technology to this new SAP facility for improving productivity. After validation of this technology in Himeji plant, this technology would be applied to future SAP facilities for supplying high quality and cost competitive SAP to all over the world.
 
In addition to this expansion at Himeji plant, Nippon Shokubai is now planning further large scale expansions in Belgium or other regions, as planned on our new long-term business plan ‘Reborn Nippon Shokubai 2020’ which was announced at April 2014.
 
With the start of the new superabsorbent polymers plant at Himeji, Nippon Shokubai group’s global SAP production capacity will be 610,000 MT per annum.