Increased supply of superabsorbent resin in Asia

The Great Earthquake in Japan has increased the shortage of SAP, which is already in tight supply. Japanese diaper manufacturers said that due to shortage of raw materials SAP, they had to reduce load production, which in turn caused tight supply of Japanese diapers.

According to analysis, the major earthquake on March 11 caused a shortage of petrochemical raw materials in Japan, which affected the production of acrylic acid and ester products. According to market analysts, the earthquake is only one reason. The main reason is that SAP in Asia is not able to produce enough capacity. Although Japan Catalyst and Sumitomo Chemical have expanded their SAP projects in 2010, and these capacities are also at full capacity, it is still difficult to meet the growing market demand in Asia.

In view of the tight SAP supply in Asia, many companies have already planned to build new projects. For example, BASF and Sinopec will build 160,000 tons/year of acrylic acid plant and consider building a downstream SAP plant; Saudi National Industry Corporation (TASNEE) is building a set of 230,000 tons. For acrylic acid units, some of the products will be used as raw materials for the 80,000-ton/year SAP device jointly with Evonik in Germany. The SAP device is scheduled to be put into production in early 2013.

South Korea's LG Chemical Corporation also announced that it will invest 305 billion won to expand its SAP and acrylate production capacity in Yeosu, which is expected to be completed by June 2012; the Japanese catalyst company plans to build a 30,000-ton/year SAP device at its Indonesian production base, and the project is expected to be 2013 March put into production. It is understood that the Japanese catalyst company in Indonesia has 60,000 tons/year of acrylic device at the production base, which can supply raw materials to the SAP device. By then, the total SAP capacity of Nippon Shokubai Co. will increase to 500,000 tons/year. In addition, Sanda Polymer's newly established 70,000-ton/year SAP production line in Nantong, Jiangsu Province, will be able to ease the tight supply in the Asian market to a certain extent.

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