Sumitomo Bakelite Co., Ltd. has completed the construction of its new factory at its Chinese subsidiary, Sumitomo Bakelite (Nantong) Co., Ltd. Accordingly, the company held a completion ceremony, marking the start of the operation of the new facility.

For that reason, the company will be able to boost its production capacity for phenolic molding compounds.

Boosts Production Capacity

Sumitomo Bakelite established its China subsidiary in 2007 as a phenolic resins plant inside the Nantong Economic and Technological Development Zone. Since then, the company has been expanding the plant, to include second and third phases. Currently, it has been producing phenolic resins as well as phenolic molding compounds, films and sheets, and liquid epoxy resin.

Recently, the use of renewable energy-related components has been increasing. Specifically, to meet the goals of carbon neutrality. In addition, there has been increasing demand as well for the electrification and weight reduction of automobiles.

The company expects the Chinese market will expand further in the future. Hence, the company has constructed a new plant in the current Nantong plant. The construction of the new plant started in 2021. Accordingly, the goal of the new factory is to increase the company’s production capacity up to 2 times or 25,000 tons per year.

As it moves towards official operation, the company expects to start mass production from the said factory in June 2024.

State-of-the-Art Facility

In response to China’s increasingly stringent safety and environmental regulations, the new plant will implement process automation. Moreover, the new plant will also employ process monitoring using AI and IoT.

Aside from these, the facility will also make use of energy efficiency and state-of-the-art environmental protection equipment. The plant will also contribute to the realization of carbon neutrality by producing safe, secure, environmentally friendly and energy-saving products.

-12 April 2024-