Japan’s Asahi Kasei and China’s Bluestar, a ChemChina subsidiary, have agreed to study the economics of building production facilities for producing a modified polyphenylene ether (mPPE) in China.

The facilities would include the intermediates 2,6-xylenol and polyphenylene ether (PPE). Following completion of detailed feasibility studies, the companies plan to make a final investment decision by March 2018.

The plans will be realized by a joint venture agreed in February of this year and will leverage Bluestar’s technology for 2,6-xylenol and PPE in combination with Asahi Kasei’s mPPE compounding technology and applications development capability.