Mitsui, Sinopec plan China venture

Mitsui, Sinopec plan China venture

TOKYO: Major Japanese chemical maker Mitsui Chemicals and Sinopec, China's largest oil refiner and producer of petrochemical products, said on Friday they would jointly produce a high-performance plastic in China.

Mitsui and Sinopec will build a plant in Shanghai to make the product, bisphenol A, which is used for home electronics and optical discs such as CDs and DVDs, a spokesman for Mitsui said.

The plant will have an annual output capacity of 120,000 tons, the world's highest production capacity for bisphenol A, and start operations in July 2006, the two firms said in a statement.

"The move is in line with our expectations for rising demand for bisphenol A in China," the Mitsui spokesman said.

To manage the plant, the two firms will set up a 50-50 joint venture in Shanghai by the end of the year. They did not disclose the scale of capitalization.--AFP