Kyowa Hakko Chemical targets U.S., China markets

Kyowa Hakko Chemical plans to set up this year a distribution base in the United States for its synthetic fatty acids, which it is fostering as value-added products made from its core oxo-alcohol materials, while also cultivating demand in China. The Tokyo-based company, which makes isononanoic acid, or 3,5,5-trimethyl hexanoic acid, and octylic acid, or 2-ethyl hexanoic acid, reported a growing global market for its products, bolstered by their new applications as raw materials to make refrigeration oils for air conditioners and freezers that use hydrofluorocarbon, instead of chlorofluorocarbons, refrigerants, on top of their traditional wide-ranging uses as raw materials for metallic soap, synthetic lubricants, and rust-prevention and polymer additives.Kyowa said a surge in demand is predicted in the U.S, where the use of the specified chlorofluorocarbons will be abolished this year, and it intends to spur its marketing activities there with its new distribution base. (March 24, 2010)