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| October 22, 2001 |
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| Joint Venture to Be Formed for Acrylic Acid
and Acrylates Business with Sasol of Republic of South Africa |
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| Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation |
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Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (MCC; Head Office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President:
Kanji Shono) agreed with Sasol Limited (Head Office: Johannesburg,
Republic of South Africa; President: Pieter Cox) to form joint
ventures for acrylic acid and acrylates business in December 2001.
MCC has already agreed with Sasol to license its normal butanol production technology
which enables Sasol to produce 150,000 tons of normal butanol annually from December
2002. MCC will offtake a part of the production. MCC has also agreed with Sasol
in July 2000 to provide a license of acrylic acid and acrylates production technology.
Sasol plans to construct a plant to produce acrylic acid and others with annual
production capacity of 80,000 tons in its plant in Sasolburg from November this
year.
Both MCC and Sasol had been seeking the possibility to develop a further collaboration,
and they reached to an agreement to establish a worldwide tie-up relation in acrylic
acid and acrylates business by combining Sasol's propylene and ethanol produced
from coal using its state-of-the-art coal liquidation technology and normal butanol
that the company produces based on MCC's technology with MCC's world competitive
production technology of acrylic acid and acrylates. The both companies will establish
a joint venture company in Singapore to market the products and conduct investment
activity in the global market. They will also establish a joint venture company
in the Republic of South Africa to manufacture the products. With the aim of pre-marketing,
the former joint venture company plans to start its operation from the end of
March next year after having obtained an approval from the relevant authorities.
Based on the company's policy in the petrochemical field "The business which has
global competitiveness in technology and market should further enhance its competitiveness
and profit either by itself or by collaboration with other companies," MCC positions
the formation of joint venture with Sasol as a strategic collaboration.
With the formation of the joint venture, MCC will be able to have an alternative
path to produce acrylic acid and acrylates from coal in addition to its existing
production path from naphtha in its Yokkaichi Plant. MCC and Sasol will continue
to study the possibility of further collaboration to complete the "total acrylic
acid chain" to include downstream such as emulsion and super absorbent polymer.
| For further information, please contact |
| Public Relations Dept., |
| Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation |
| Tel: [+81] 3-3283-6254 |
Outline of Marketing and Investment Joint Venture Company
| To be established in |
: |
December 2001 |
| Company name |
: |
Not yet decided |
| Head office |
: |
Singapore |
| President |
: |
To be rotated (First president will be dispatched
from MCC.) |
| Start of operation |
: |
End of March 2002 |
| Capitalization |
: |
US$58.5 million (about Yen 6.9 billion) |
| Shareholders |
: |
MCC (50%)
Sasol (50%) |
| Line of business |
: |
Business management, marketing, and investment for
acrylic acid and acrylates |
| Expected turnover |
: |
About US$110 million (about Yen 13 billion) |
| Employees |
: |
Not yet decided |
Outline of Production Joint Venture Company
| To be established in |
: |
December 2001 |
| Company name |
: |
Not yet decided |
| Head office |
: |
Republic of South Africa |
| President |
: |
To be dispatched from Sasol |
| Capitalization |
: |
US$117 million (about Yen 13.8 billion) |
| Shareholders |
: |
Marketing and investment joint venture company (50%)
Sasol (50%) |
| Line of business |
: |
Production of acrylic acid and acrylates |
| Production capacity |
: |
| Acrylic acid |
: |
80,000 tons per annum |
| Butyl acrylates |
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80,000 tons per annum |
| Ethyl acrylates |
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35,000 tons per annum |
| Glacial acrylic acid |
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10,000 tons per annum |
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| Location |
: |
In the Sasolburg Plant of Sasol |
| Start of construction |
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November 2001 |
| Completion |
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December 2003 |
| Employees |
: |
Not yet decided |
Outline of Sasol Limited
| To be established in |
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1950 |
| Capitalization |
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1,559 million Rand (about US$200 million) |
| President |
: |
Pieter Cox |
| Employees |
: |
about 25,000 (as of March 2000) |
| Line of business |
: |
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Sales (in million Rand) |
Ratio (%) |
| Syn-fuels |
10,915 |
35 |
| Chemicals |
12,409 |
40 |
| Oil refinery |
4,635 |
15 |
| Others |
3,343 |
10 |
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| Net income before taxation in the year ending
in June 2000: US$972 million |
| Major products in chemicals |
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Solvents |
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Alpha olefins |
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Polyethylene |
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Polypropylene |
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Acrylonitrile |
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Waxes |
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Gunpowder |
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Explosive |
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Carbon |
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Fertilizer |
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