US specialty chemicals producer Lubrizol (Wickliffe, Ohio; www.lubrizol.com) and Japan’s Sekisui Chemical (Tokyo; www.sekisuichemical.com) plan to build a USD 100m (EUR 76.7m) chlorinated polyvinyl chloride (CPVC) plant in Map Ta Phut in Rayong / Thailand. The joint venture plant will be built in two phases, with 30,000 t/y of capacity coming onstream by the end of 2014 and a further 30,000 t/y coming onstream by the end of 2016. Each phase is expected to cost approximately USD 50m.

The new joint venture company, to be created in the second half of 2013, will be owned 51% by Sekisui Chemical and 49% by Lubrizol Advanced Materials. The venture’s name has not yet been decided.

The project will meet growing demand for CPVC from the global building and construction industry, particularly in Asia, the companies said. CPVC is continuing to be used as a replacement for metal in pipes in the emerging countries of South Asia and the Middle East, stated Sekisui. At the same time, construction demand is booming in line with economic growth, it added.

Each company will continue to independently market and sell CPVC resins and manufacture their own CPVC compounds for their respective customers. CPVC compounds contain the additives necessary for the moulding process.