Kuraray Chemical (President: Yasuhiro Yamamoto) has decided to build up a production line of low purity CMS (carbon molecular sieve) adsorbent for N2 PSA in China. The world market scale of CMS adsorbent for N2 PSA is estimated to be 4000t now, in which China takes the largest share of approximately half.

The company is now producing CMS (with an estimated output of 1200t/year) at Tsurumi Plant in Bizen, Okayama Prefecture, which is delivered to the world including the export of 200 to 300t per year to China. However, CMS generated in Tsurumi Plant is a high-purity product (N2 purity of 99.5% or over) which is too high specifications. It also has turned out to compete in many cases with a hundred or more Chinese manufacturers of lower-purity grade CMS (N2 purity of 99%). So, the company decided to produce locally a product of lower-purity grade and price to meet the market.

The production line is installed in Yinchuan Plant (locally named Kuraray Chemical Ningxia Environmental Industry) located at Shizuishan High-tech Industrial Park Ningxia of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region which has already accomplished entry into China. Yinchuan is a capital city located south of Gobi Desert, and it is known that a great deal of high-quality coal is deposited there and around.

The production line for annual output of 200t of lower-purity grade CMS has already been put into construction. It is said that the first delivery will be realized in next summer at earliest and in autumn at latest. Shanghai Iwatani will handle sales activities.

Regarding the investment to China at this time, Tetsuhiko Matsuura, division manager of Equipment Manufacturing Business said, “We had been planning to advance into China to build a plant since two years ago. Our aim is to segregate the production of the high-purity product from Tsurumi and lower-purity one made in China. We position it as an important investment to succeed in the Chinese market.”