Midland, Mich. and Beijing June 12 Dow Technology Licensing, a business unit of The Dow Chemical Company, announced today that LiaoNing HuaJin Chemical has selected Dows MABS Technology for its new 140 KTA acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) facility. Due on stream in 2011, the plant will be constructed in LiaoNing Province, The Peoples Republic of China. LiaoNing HuaJin Chemical is the 10th Chinese chemical manufacturer to select one of Dows technologies in the past two years.
Dow has used MABS technology in its own production facilities for more than 40 years, although it was just recently added to our licensing portfolio, said Dr. Molly Zhang, business vice president, Dow Technology Licensing. We are thrilled that LiaoNing HuaJin Chemical has selected our technology, and are confident it will give them a leading edge as ABS demand in China continues to grow.
In contrast to traditional batch-to-batch emulsion ABS processes, Dows MABS Technology - a continuous mass solution process (mass-ABS) - produces a high-purity resin and enables greater lot-to-lot consistency. By minimizing impurities, the resulting product has a "whiter" base, which is easier for formulators to color customize.
Because of its shorter process flow and reliable control system, Dows MABS Technology produces ABS resins with greater stability and homogeneity, which allows us to offer a superior product and differentiate ourselves among competitors, said Mr. Yuan Bo, vice president, Huajin Group Shuangxin Company. And as China increasingly stresses the importance of environmental protection and pollution control, the streamlined design of Dows process will serve an important role in reducing our energy and feedstock consumption, as well as minimizing waste. This gives us the opportunity to better protect our living environment, while lowering our long-term production costs.
China consumes five times more ABS than the U.S. and by 2012, ABS demand in China is projected to grow to 4,300 KTA, the equivalent of more than half of current global ABS production capacity.
ABS resin is a tough, heat- and chemical-resistant thermoplastic that is easily processed into light, rigid products such as piping, appliances and toys. ABS resins are increasingly being combined with polycarbonate resins to "upgrade" heat and flow product performance to improve manufacturing productivity and cost-efficiency.
