Anaven, a 50-50 joint venture of Nouryon and Atul, has received the environmental clearance for its 32,000 metric tons monochloroacetic acid (MCA) plant in Gujarat, India.
Construction is due to be completed this year to supply MCA to the Indian market by the end of the year.
Rob Vancko, Nouryon’s Head of MCA and Chairman of Anaven, said: “Our partnership with Atul will ensure we can efficiently meet growing demand from customers in India, supporting Nouryon’s ambition to grow in targeted end markets such as agriculture, cleaning, and personal care, particularly in emerging markets.”
Sunil Lalbhai, Chairman and Managing Director of Atul said: “We are happy to receive the clearance to expand production of MCA, an essential ingredient for the growing Indian agricultural, personal care and pharmaceutical markets. We are on track to complete construction, testing and commissioning of the facility built using the world-class technology from Nouryon this year and expect to reach full production capacity in the first half of 2021.”
The 50-50 joint venture will become the largest MCA plant in India. It will use chlorine and hydrogen manufactured by Atul to produce up to 32,000 metric tons of MCA per year, with the possibility to expand this to 60,000 metric tons per year in the future.
Atul will consume a portion of the MCA directly in its own production and the balance will be supplied to the Indian market.
Nouryon is the leading global technology player in MCA. The company operates plants in the Netherlands, China, and Japan, supplying to customers who use it to produce crop protection products, cleaning and personal care products, pharmaceuticals, thickening agents for food, oil drilling, mining, and cosmetics.