Evonik Industries recently announced it will build world-scale plants for producing isophorone and isophorone diamine in Shanghai, China. The group is investing more than €100 million (~ $137 million) in the plants, which are scheduled to go onstream in the first quarter of 2014.

Construction work on the multi-user site China (MUSC), Evonik’s production site in Shanghai, will begin in early 2012. Isophorone is used in applications like paint and printing inks, while its derivative, isophorone diamine, is used as a hardener in epoxy-based formulations.

“The investment shall further consolidate our strong market and technology positions in isophorone chemistry,” said Thomas Haeberle, Ph.D., the Executive Board member responsible for the Resource Efficiency segment. Evonik reportedly expects to see strong growth in demand for raw materials used in the coatings and construction industries for automotive applications and high-performance composite materials, especially in Asia. This growth will also be driven particularly by the increasing demand for wind turbines.

The Shanghai plants will reportedly be the first for isophorone and isophorone diamine in Asia. “By establi­shing the production platform in China, we want to support the long-term growth ambitions of our customers in the Asia region,” said Ulrich Küsthardt, Ph.D., head of the Coatings & Additives Business Unit. “This strategic positioning will allow us to plan capacities even more efficiently.”

For more information, visitwww.evonik.com.