SHANGHAI, CHINA—Dow Chemical Co. and Zhejiang Chemical Factory have reached an agreement in which Dow will acquire ZCF's half of their joint venture chemical plant, Zhejiang Pacific Chemical Corp. in Ningbo, China.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation has approved the share transfer.
``This acquisition is part of our global polyurethane business strategy to be more directly involved in our operations and to step up our investments in Asia-Pacific,'' Bob Wood, business vice president of Dow Polyurethane, said in a news release.
Dow plans to invest further in the site by making modifications to the plant, broadening the product mix and increasing capacity, added David Pashalidis, commercial director, polyurethanes, with Dow Asia Pacific at PU China '98.
Despite the current Asian economic situation, Dow's commitment to the region continues.
``We believe China is one of the promising markets in the world,'' said Andrew Liveris, president of Dow Asia Pacific. ``We are particularly optimistic about the prospects for the chemical industry in China and plan to increase our investments there in the years ahead.''
ZPCC, in operation since 1994, has an annual capacity of 44.1 million pounds each of propylene oxide and polyether polyol; and 11 million pounds of propylene glycol, which has a variety of applications.
