Bayer: Joint Venture with Japanese companies Honshu and Mitsui

14-Dec-2001

Bayer: Joint Venture with Japanese companies Honshu and Mitsui Production facility for specialty bisphenols creates 35 new jobs in Bitterfeld Investment of around EUR 38 million / On stream at end of 2003

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Bitterfeld ? The Japanese company Honshu Chemical Industry plans to build a production facility for specialty bisphenols in the "P-D Chemical Park" in Bitterfeld-Wolfen immediately adjacent to the site of Bayer Bitterfeld GmbH. These raw materials are used at Bayer for the production of highly heat-resistant Apec polycarbonate. The facility will have an annual capacity of some 5,000 tons and will cost some EUR 38 million to build. It is scheduled to go on stream at the end of 2003 and will create about 35 new jobs.

For this project, a three-partner joint venture is being set up between Honshu Chemical Industry, Mitsui & Co. ? a major stockholder of Honshu ? and Bayer. The new company has been pre-registered under the name Hi-Bis GmbH.

"With demand constantly rising, it became necessary to build a larger production facility", explained Toshihiko Takeno, a member of Honshu's management board, during a press conference in Bitterfeld on December 13, 2001. "We decided to build it in Europe because Bayer is our exclusive customer for these specialty bisphenols here. For Honshu, the project is the first investment abroad." The Japanese company, which is headquartered in Tokyo and has production facilities in Wakayama, has been supplying Bayer with specialty bisphenols for more than ten years.

Katrin Budde, Minister for Economic Affairs in Saxony-Anhalt ? also speaking on behalf of the state's minister-president Dr Reinhard Höppner ? welcomed the first major investment by a Japanese company in Saxony-Anhalt, initiated by the joint efforts of Bayer and the state government. "The investment project demonstrates once more that Saxony-Anhalt continues to grow in attractiveness as a production location for the chemical industry. Here, investors from Germany and abroad find optimum conditions and location benefits such as good financial incentives, unbureaucratic approval procedures and a highly skilled and committed workforce."

Commenting on the decision to locate Hi-Bis GmbH in Bitterfeld, Sosuke Tsuchiya, Managing Director of Mitsui & Co. Deutschland GmbH, explained: "Saxony-Anhalt is an excellent location for the chemical industry. The strategic priority of Mitsui in Europe is to expand business, possibly with further investment in Europe. As a strategic basis, we intend to expand our activities in eastern Germany. We wish to attract the interest of our partners in Japanese industry for the region and hopefully to initiate further projects here. "

"In Antwerp, Belgium, Bayer uses the bisphenols supplied by Honshu to manufacture the specialty polycarbonate Apec. This transparent polymer, for which Bayer is the world market leader, displays outstanding heat resistance," said Dr Tony Van Osselaer, head of Manufacturing and Technology in Bayer's Plastics Business Group. The chief applications are in automotive lighting and electrical engineering/electronics. For example, car reflector bezels and fog-lamp lenses are being made increasingly from Apec, as are parts for hair dryers, because of the plastic's excellent impact strength and durability.

"The bisphenol production facility will use services offered by Bayer Bitterfeld GmbH," explained Dr Georg Frank, Managing Director of Bayer Bitterfeld GmbH (BBG). The closeness of this cooperation is emphasized by the fact that the services provided by Bayer Bitterfeld GmbH include human resources, finance and accounting, environmental and safety management, and gate security.

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