Mitsui to up polypropylene capacity in Guangdong plant

Mitsui Chemicals Inc. will increase the capacity of its plant in China’s Guangdong Province by 25% next year. The company plans to spend some ¥1 billion (US$9.5 million) to add additive-mixing equipment at its subsidiary, Mitsui Advanced Composites (Zhongshan) Co., boosting production capacity to 50,000 tons per year of polypropylene compounds used in automobile bumpers and door trimming. While some industry experts project flatter growth in Chinese automobile production as economic growth in China slows down, Mitsui Chemicals expects production by Japanese automakers in China to remain strong. (August 20, 2008)