Asahi Chemical expanding AN and NaCN production capacity at Tongsuh Petrochemical

Asahi Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. (Asahi Chemical; President, Kazumoto Yamamoto) and Tongsuh Petrochemical Corp., Ltd. (Tongsuh; President, Kyun-Chul Lee), its whollyowned subsidiary in Korea, have decided to expand the production capacity of Tongsuh's acrylonitrile (AN) plant, following their joint

study on effective means of meeting the growing demand for AN in the Asian market. The expansion will involve the construction of a new AN production unit with an annual AN production capacity of 200,000 tons, in place of one current AN production line of 60,000 tons annual capacity. Construction is scheduled to begin in December 2000.

In conjunction with the AN capacity expansion, the Tongsuh facility for production of sodium cyanide (NaCN) will be expanded by 15,000 ton/year, for efficient utilization of byproduct hydrogen cyanide (HCN) from the AN production.

The demand for AN in Japan and other parts of Asia is growing. The Asian demand currently represents about half of the worldwide AN demand of some 5,000,000 ton/year, and its growth is expected to continue. The AN operations of Asahi Chemical, with their strategic position in the rapidly growing Asian market, have developed in concert with a strong and growing AN demand, and in an overall program of timely restructuring of operations to effectively anticipate and meet the continuing rise in AN demand.