Sumitomo hikes MMA polymer

LG MMA Corp has started building a 40 000 tonne/year methyl methacrylate (MMA) plant in Yeochun, South Korea.

The plant will use Sumi­tomo Chemical’s proprietary continuous bulk polymerisation process technology, which enables the low cost production of high quality MMA suitable for optical applications.

LG MMA is 50% owned by LG Corp, 25% by Sumitomo Chemical and 25% owned by Nippon Shokubai. The project cost was not disclosed. Sumitomo claims that when the unit is complete in July 2005, and added to its existing 45 000 tonne/year capacity in Japan and 50 000 tonne/year capacity in Singapore, it will make the company the top MMA polymer producer in Asia.

It was not revealed how much of LG MMA’s production would be marketed by Sumitomo, although Sumitomo claims that the new plant will raise its total MMA polymer capacity to 135 000 tonne/year.