Mitsubishi Chemical will build MMA plant in the United States

Recently, Christina Frederick, direct purchasing manager of Lucite international, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Chemical Group, said that Mitsubishi Chemical planned to release details of the MMA project along the Gulf Coast in the first quarter of 2020. The MMA plant, with a capacity of 250000-350000 tons per year, will be built between Houston, Texas, and Gasol, Louisiana, and is expected to start production in 2024. At present, the total demand of MMA in the world is about 3.8 million tons / year, and the excess capacity of MMA in the world is about 500000 tons / year. It is estimated that the excess capacity will be reduced to 250000 tons / year in 2023. North America is the net importer of MMA and will continue to expand by 2023. MMA in Northeast Asia and the Middle East has large surpluses, which are exported to other regions. In 2020, the United States will become a net exporter of MMA key raw material methanol. Lucite international has developed the production technology of α - MMA, which consumes a lot of methanol, ethylene and carbon monoxide. According to Frederick, a 350000 ton / year a-mma plant consumes 273000 tons of methanol per year. Mitsubishi Chemical has been considering a new MMA plant along the Gulf Coast for some time. In 2014, the company signed a memorandum of understanding with Mitsui to jointly build a 250000 T / a MMA plant.