Germany's CABB and Jining Gold Power from Shandong province agreed to establish a joint venture for the production and marketing of high quality monochloroacetic acid (MCA) in Jining, Shandong province in the People's Republic of China. MCA is an important chemical building block for the synthesis of a variety of products into the food, personal care and agrochemical industries.

"This Chinese joint venture is CABB's next major step towards strengthening its acetyls business in this important growth market and manifesting a global production footprint," commented Dr. Martin Wienkenhöver, CEO of CABB. "Jining Gold Power is a very strong partner who will supply the new venture with key raw materials and energies." Dr. Uwe Brunk, General Manager of CABB's Acetyls Business Unit, added, "The new joint venture will double its capacity for high-quality MCA in China in the near future. CABB will enable the joint venture to reach the next technology level and to establish a leading company for high-quality MCA in the Chinese market with an international sphere of activity."

The joint venture is set to take over the existing production facilities of Jinwei Huasheng Chemical, which currently produces 20,000 tons of MCA each year. CABB will be the majority partner with holding 67 % of the shares. The joint venture is scheduled to begin production of high-quality MCA very soon. In addition, the joint venture plans to more than double its high-quality MCA output by raising production by over 25,000 tons per annum.