Mitsubishi Chemical buys land in Louisiana for planned MMA monomer plant

With its eye on the design and construction of a massive new 350,000-tonnes-per-year methyl methacrylate (MMA) monomer plan, Japan-based Mitsubishi Chemical has recently acquired a greenfield property at a large integrated site on the Mississippi River in Geismar, Louisiana.

“The location is ideally suited due to the readily available major raw materials, logistics infrastructure, integrated services, and skilled workforce,” Mitsubishi Chemical officials said in a Dec. 9 statement. “The project is in the early engineering stage and scheduled for final investment decision in early 2022.”

If approved, the plant would start production in 2025, the statement added.

The plant would be the third and the largest commercial application of the company’s proprietary Alpha technology, which derives MMA from ethylene, methanol, and carbon monoxide. MMA is the monomer used in acrylic resin, and is used to make acrylic polymers like Mitsubishi’s Lucite for applications such as automotive coatings and exterior food packaging.

“The addition of this asset, which will be fully owned and operated by Mitsubishi Chemical, strengthens our global leadership in the MMA merchant market and demonstrates our commitment to continue providing reliable and competitive supply to our customers in the U.S. and in all regions of the world,” said Hitoshi Sasaki, COO of Mitsubishi Chemical’s Global MMA business domain.