Silicone spend promises quick payoff The market is tight and growing quickly, says Dow exec

摘要

Tight supply in high-value, high-performance applications will allow Dow Chemical's planned silicones investments to pay off quickly, says Mauro Gregorio, business president of Dow Consumer Solutions.”We are opportunity rich [in silicones],”he says.”Demand is growing at one-and-a-half-times GDP and more, globally, and in many cases we need to continue to invest in our silicones franchise so we can continue to innovate and bring a reliable supply to our customers.”In September, Dow announced plans to debottleneck siloxane production globally and to increase capacity for high-value performance silicone products and intermediates, including construction of a hydroxyl functional siloxane polymer plant at Carrollton, Kentucky, and a specialty resin intermediates plant at Zhangjiagang, China. The expansion at Carrollton will increase Dow's silicone polymers capacity in the Americas by 65%. The debottlenecking projects are essential, siloxane being the fundamental building block of silicones, Gregorio says.”This is a market that is very tight, so the return is very quick on those projects,”he notes. Dow has also begun a feasibility study to identify the best location for a new world-scale siloxane plant. The company is looking at locations globally.”It will be a decision based on return on investment, being close to customers, and enabling innovation,”says Gregorio.”By mid-2019, we'll have the conclusion of that study.”