Ocean Development America Inc. is looking for a few good customers to sell its polyester and polystyrene resins. Jack Wu, sales representative for the Shantou, China-based company, said until last year sales were limited primarily to mainland China and the Far East. However, fast growth in China's resin industry necessitated searching for markets outside the country, he said.
Ocean Development America is the U.S. sales arm of SOE (Group) Co., a transnational diversified industrial and trade group with 56 plastics and petrochemicals subsidiaries in China and annual sales of about $150 million.
``We are currently the number one producer of polystyrene and polyester in China, with about 100,000 metric tons [220 million pounds] per year of production in polystyrene alone,'' Wu said.
``Our plans call for 380,000 metric tons [836 million pounds] of capacity within the next two years, but right now only about 10 percent of our production is exported, and only about 300 metric tons [about 660 million pounds] per year goes to the U.S.''
The firm also produces polyester resin and is the only company with Food and Drug Administration certification in China. It also is a certified supplier to Coca-Cola Co. in China.
The plastics division of SOE's production includes biaxially oriented polyester films for packaging, audio and video tape, capacitor, and other electronic applications, polyester bottles for Coca-Cola and preforms.
``We feel that we are ready to go to the next level and that we can bring our products outside of China to the world,'' Wu said.
Wu could not say whether SOE's plans included locating manufacturing capabilities in the United States or anywhere outside of China.
