The extra output will meet market growth as well as satisfy Nouryon’s own increased consumption of MCA to produce carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), following its acquisition of J.M. Huber’s CMC business on Jun. 30.

The capacity hike will be achieved by investing in technology and efficiency improvements.  Nouryon said it has also started looking at how it can free up more capacity for chlorine, the key raw material for making MCA, which is used in the manufacture of many crop protection and home and personal care products, as well as being an important building block used by the food and pharmaceutical industries.

“MCA serves several high-growth sectors, including crop protection products in the Americas and pharmaceutical production in India and other emerging markets,” said Rob Vancko, Nouryon’s head of MCA and Strategy, Industrial Chemicals. “The expansion project in Delfzijl combined with the opening of a new joint venture plant in India later this year will increase our overall MCA production capacity by more than 20% to help us capture demand growth.”

In May 2017, Nouryon (then as AkzoNobel), agreed a joint venture with Indian chemical producer Atul to build an MCA plant in Gujarat, India. Both companies hold 50% in the JV, called Anaven. The facility will have an initial capacity of 32,000 t/y but has been designed for future expansion to 60,000 t/y.

According to market research firm Stratistics MRC, the global MCA market will expand at a compound annual growth rate of 6% during the period 2019-2027, with its value rising from nearly $873.5 million in 2019 to reach nearly $1.4 billion by 2027, driven primarily by increasing demand for CMC and agrochemicals.