Finland’s Kemira opens new dry polymer plant in South Korea

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Kemira has opened a new dry polymer production plant in Ulsan, South Korea, the Finland-based producer said on Thursday.

The Ulsan plant produces high quality dry polyacrylamide (DPAM) products primarily for retention and drainage applications, which are used in fast paper and board production, the company said in a statement.

The investment is a joint venture between Kemira and South Korean producer Yongsan Chemicals.

“The paper and board industry is seeing the fastest growth in the APAC region, particularly for consumer-driven packaging and board grades, and currently, most of the new production on the global market in all paper grades is being built in China and the APAC region,” Kemira said.

Kemira has also initiated a pre-engineering phase to construct a “multimillion investment” to increase the production capacity of alkenyl succinic anhydride (ASA) sizing agents at its Nanjing site in Jiangsu province, China.

ASA sizing agents are used for improving water resistance in paper and board, including packaging solutions.

The ASA project will take about two years after the pre-engineering phase is completed, said Alexander Wahl, Director, Global Product Line, Sizing, at Kemira.