PTA demand in India is estimated to grow an average 7% in the 6 years ending in 2009, the fastest rate in Asia after China's 13.5%. To take advantage of this estimated surge in demand, Japan's Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. plans to invest US$370 million to build a 800,000 ton PTA plant in India. The company, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corp., will begin construction in January 2006, for completion in June 2008. With this expansion, Mitsubishi Chemical's PTA production capacity in India will increase by almost 2.7-fold from the current capacity of 470,000 tons from its existing plant of MCC PTA India Corp. The entire production of the new plant will be consumed in India, where PTA demand is estimated to increase to about 5 million tons in 2009, against 2.3 million tons in 2005.
PTA demand is growing also as a main material for polyethylene terephthalate, or PET, bottles. Mitsubishi Chemical has a 11% share in total global PTA production, form its plants in Japan, South Korea and Indonesia in addition to India, with output totaling 27 million tons. The company is currently building a 600,000 ton plant in China for completion in 2006.
27-Dec-05 
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