Cognis and Thai Olefins agree fatty alcohol ethoxylates joint venture
Cognis Thai Ltd. and Thai olefins Public Company Ltd. today announced that they have agreed to enter into a 50:50 joint venture for the production and marketing of fatty alcohol ethoxylates. This joint venture will operate under the name of Thai Ethoxylate Company Ltd., and will primarily serve customers in the home and personal care industries.
A new facility will be built at Rayong, south-east of Bangkok, at a total cost of 20 million US dollars, and is expected to be operational by October 2006. The Rayong industrial estate is currently the seventh largest complex for chemical operations in the world, and is situated only three miles away from a deep sea port.
Fatty alcohol ethoxylates are used in the production of surfactants for cosmetic, detergent and cleaning applications. The two companies will both contribute expertise in the production of the ethylene oxide and fatty alcohol feedstocks to the joint venture, which will also benefit from Cognis experience of ethoxylation processes.
For Thai Olefins this joint venture marks an important step in forward integration of their activities. A benefit for Cognis will be the availability to purchase part of the production for its own captive use, mainly at Cognis plants in Thailand, China and Indonesia. Cognis Care Chemicals strategic business unit is one of the world's leading suppliers of ingredients for the home and personal care and industrial cleaning product industries. By sourcing fatty alcohol ethoxylates from the joint venture, it will be able to improve the service it offers to customers in the Asia-Pacific region.
According to Richard Ridinger, Group Vice President of Cognis Care Chemicals, "The care chemicals market in the Asia-Pacific region is already growing fast, and we expect the rate of growth to accelerate still further in the future. The joint venture with Thai Olefins secures our access to ethoxylation capacities in the region and will help us to provide our customers with top-quality products".
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