Degussa GmbH and Forhouse Corp. have opened their joint venture plant to make acrylic molding compounds in Taiwan, targeting the flat-panel display market.
The 88 million-pound plant in Taichung started production earlier this year, making polymethyl methacrylate molding compounds and also integrating production for the processing of lighting modules for flat-panel displays.
Degussa, based in Dusseldorf, Germany, owns 51 percent of the venture; and Da-ya Hsiang, Taiwan-based Forhouse, a large manufacturer of flat-panel lighting modules, owns 49 percent.
The venture first was announced in January 2006.
``The startup of the PMMA plant marks a huge advance in our backward integration strategy and the related goal of securing the PMMA supply for our further growth,'' said Forhouse President Francis Pan. ``The plant also helps us achieve our objective of improving our cost position.''
The companies said they want the joint venture to tap Degussa's chemical knowledge and Forhouse's optoelectronic experience to develop new products. They said the liquid-crystal flat-panel-display market is growing at more than 10 percent a year.
``Global demand for high-quality PMMA molding compounds is set to rise significantly in the next few years,'' said Gregory Hetzke, president of Degussa's methacrylates business unit.