Mitsubishi, GE tie up

Mitsubishi, GE tie up

TOKYO (AFP): Japan's Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. and the General Electric Co. group have agreed to invest 10 billion yen (US$93 million) to build an engineering plastics plant in Asia, a daily said Saturday.

Japan's largest chemical maker and GE Plastics, an engineering plastics manufacturer belonging to the US electronics giant, plan to form a joint venture in 2003 for the project, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said.

Mitsubishi Chemical and GE Plastics are currently conducting a feasibility study to select a factory site in Japan, Singapore, or several other candidate countries in the region, the business daily said.

The two will produce polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), a multi-purpose resin mainly used as automobile connectors and packing material, the newspaper said.

The plant's annual capacity is expected to reach 60,000 tons, accounting for the world's largest market share of 15 percent.