SABIC to build its first compounding plant in western China

In an effort to tap into the growing demand for consumer goods, materials supplier SABIC Innovative Plastics will set up an engineering thermoplastics compounding plant in the western Chinese city of Chongqing. The facility is slated to open in 2013 and will be the first in western China for the Pittsfield, Mass.-based company.

“The move supports the Chinese government’s 12^th Five-Year Plan to expand into the country’s western region and reinforces SABIC’s commitment to build on its long heritage of serving this important marketplace with innovative and consistently high-quality materials solutions,” SABIC said in a press release. “Chongqing has already established itself as an important industrial hub for global computer, consumer electronics and automotive manufacturers – critical industry segments that SABIC has long served with local materials technology and manufacturing, application development expertise, and design assistance.”

The announcement comes on the heels of SABIC’s recent announcement of a new US$1 billion polycarbonate plant slated to be built in Tianjin, part of the company’s joint venture with Chinese state-owned Sinopec.