In an effort to place itself into the best possible position to exploit the dynamic polymer additives market in the Middle East, valued at EUR 80m today and expected to grow 10% in the future, Japanese additive manufacturer Adeka (Tokyo; www.adk.co.jp/en) has announced its decision to establish a joint venture company in Dubai to produce one pack granule additives.

With this in mind, the Japanese producer will invest about EUR 2.8m in Al Ghurair Additives (Dubai / UAE), part of the petrochemical business of the Al Ghurair Group (Dubai / UAE; www.alghurair.com). The resultant new jv, expected to be launched this month, most likely will be called Adeka Al Ghurair Additives. The additive production plant, by contrast, is scheduled for completion in the summer, with imports and sales likely to kick off in the autumn.

Initially, the new joint venture, in which Adeka is to hold 49% with the remainder in the hands of the Ghurair group, is to produce only one pack granule additives, which consist of more than two polymer additives. Adeka expects that Middle East demand for these one packs will rise from 20,000 t/y in 2008 to 40,000 t/y in 2014. The Japanese company already announced that as the new jv’s sales grow, it expects to raise capacity and product lineup, too. The ultimate aim is to capture a 25% share of the regional polymer additives market.

Adeka is joining a number of other companies that are scrambling over market shares in the Middle East. They include Lanxess (Leverkusen / Germany; www.lanxess.com), which recently set up a Dubai offshoot (see Plasteurope.com of 07.04.2011) and Cabot (Boston, Massachusetts / USA; www.cabot-corp.com), which began producing masterbatches in the region last year (see Plasteurope.com of 01.07.2010), among others.