DALLAS – Celanese Corp. has announced it is expanding its vinyl acetate/ethylene (VAE) manufacturing facility at its Nanjing, China, integrated chemical complex. The investment will support continued growth plans for the Celanese Emulsion Polymers business throughout Asia, including China, India and Southeast Asia, and Australia. The expanded facility will double the company’s VAE capacity in the region and is expected to be operational the first half of 2011.

 

The emulsions expansion is the latest in a number of investments by Celanese in China. Nanjing is currently the largest integrated site in the Celanese global manufacturing network with six production units including acetic acid and vinyl acetate monomer (VAM), several units from Celanese’s Ticona business and the existing emulsions plant.

 

“Since our first manufacturing activities in China just over three years ago, Celanese Emulsion Polymers has grown into a thriving organization in China and is presently expanding across Asia, into India and surrounding countries, Southeast Asia, and Australia,” said Phil McDivitt, General Manager, Celanese Emulsion Polymers. “As a global leader in vinyl-based chemistries, Celanese Emulsion Polymers brings innovation to our customers, and we will continue to introduce cutting-edge products such as our EcoVAE® emulsions,” said McDivitt.

 

The new VAE emulsions plant will yield manufacturing and supply-chain synergies with the company’s current facilities that manufacture vinyl-based homo- and copolymers, pure acrylic, and VAE emulsions. The expanded facility will be built utilizing best-in-class technologies drawn from the company’s global manufacturing footprint.