Skip to main content
  • Notice
Apr. 22, 2016

Dedication Ceremony Held for New U.S. Polyvinyl alcohol (“PVA”) Resin Plant

~Strongly promoting global expansion of vinyl acetate-related business~Establishing an optimized production and supply system spanning four key global regions~

Kuraray Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President: Masaaki Ito; hereinafter “Kuraray” or “the Company”) hereby announces its local U.S. subsidiary Kuraray America, Inc. (located in Texas) has completed construction of a new polyvinyl alcohol (“PVA”) resin plant. The dedication ceremony was held on April 21, 2016, U.S. local time.

1.Features of the New Plant

  • The new plant is in line with the Kuraray Group’s efforts to promote the global expansion of its core vinyl acetate-related business.
  • The plant joins other Group concerns centered on PVA resins, including production bases in Japan, Singapore and Europe (Germany). The Group secured its first U.S. PVA resin (ELVANOL) plant in June 2014 through the acquisition of DuPont’s vinyl acetate-related business.
  • The new U.S. plant is capable of integrated manufacturing from dealing with the raw material vinyl acetate monomer to creating finished products and is highly cost competitive owing to its ability to use shale gas and other inexpensive raw materials and fuels.
  • In addition, the plant is capable applying Kuraray production techniques to produce differentiated products like EXCEVAL.
  • This plant and the ELVANOL plant, both U.S.-based, are part of an optimized PVA resin production system spanning four key global regions that Kuraray has established to ensure the stable supply of high-quality products around the globe.
  • The plant will play a key role in Kuraray’s unswerving commitment to developing markets in North America and Central and South America.

2.Overview of the Dedication Ceremony

Date April 21, 2016 (U.S. local time)
Attendees Masaaki Ito (Representative Director and President, Kuraray Co., Ltd.)
Tomoyuki Watanabe (Vice President, Vinyl Acetate Resin Company; General Manager of the Poval Resin Division, Kuraray Co., Ltd.)
George Avdey (President and CEO, Kuraray America, Inc.; Executive Officer, Kuraray Co., Ltd.)
Hajime Suzuki (Vice President, Kuraray America, Inc.; Executive Officer, Kuraray Co., Ltd.)
Bob Chvala (Vice President, Kuraray America, Inc.)
Scott Landon (Plant Manager, Kuraray America, Inc.)
Other attendees: Approximately 120

3.Overview of the New PVA Resin Plant

Location Bayport Industrial District, Harris County, Texas, U.S.A.
Production capacity 40,000 tons annually in Phase I
Capital investment Approximately US$300 million

4.PVA Resin Production Capacity

The new U.S. plant

Region Annual capacity (tons) Facilities
Japan 96,000 Okayama Plant
28,000 Niigata Plant
Asia 40,000 Singapore (Kuraray Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd.)
Europe 94,000 Frankfurt (Kuraray Europe GmbH)
U.S.A 63,000 La Porte (Kuraray America, Inc.)
40,000 Bayport (Kuraray America, Inc.’s new plant)
Total 361,000  

Reference

Overview of Kuraray America, Inc.

Company name Kuraray America, Inc.
Representative George Avdey
Capital US$10.1 million (wholly owned subsidiary of Kuraray Holdings U.S.A., Inc.)
Employees Approximately 740
Principal businesses Import and sale of fiber and textile products, resins, and chemicals; Production and sale of poval resins, polyvinyl butyral films, ethylene vinyl alcohol polymer resins (EVAL) and thermoplastic elastomers
Location 2625 Bay Area Boulevard, Suite 600, Houston, TX. 77058-1551 U.S.A.

Reference Materials

* Image download service for the news media

We provide the ability to download images by clicking on them exclusively to the news media.
Please contact the Kuraray Corporate Communications Department if you wish to use this service.