World's first Alpha plant commences production of methyl methacrylate (MMA)

12-Nov-08

The Board of Lucite International Group Ltd has announced commencement of methyl methacrylate (MMA) production at world's first Alpha plant located on Jurong Island in Singapore. Alpha technology offers 40% savings over existing technologies in both construction and production and has the potential to revolutionise the cost base of the MMA industry. The process uses readily available commodity chemicals ethylene, carbon monoxide and methanol as raw materials instead of conventional materials such as hydrocyanic acid and isobutylene. The fact these are so readily available means that future Alpha plants can be sited anywhere in the world and are not subject to the scale limitations which impact the existing MMA processes. The combination of low-cost feedstock, increased scale, lower unit capital costs and much higher conversion rates than existing processes, means that an immediate step change in cost performance will be achieved by the plant in Singapore, which will be the lowest cost MMA plant in the world when it achieves full production later this year.