Tosoh building crude MDI splitter plant in Vietnam

Tokyo – Tosoh Corp. is building a new crude MDI splitter plant in Vietnam in response to growing demand for polyurethane/urea products in southeast Asia.

To be constructed in Phu My3 special industrial park, Ba Ria Vung Tau province, the plant will have a distillation capacity of 100 kilotonnes per annum.

The facility will be operated by subsidiary Tosoh Vietnam Polyurethane Co., which will be set up next year, Tosoh announced 2 Oct.

Construction work on the plant is scheduled to start in November 2024 with completion and commercial production set for two years later.

Crude MDI is an intermediate raw material for methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI), a key intermediate for the production of urethane- and urea-based polymers.

Demand for MDI, Tosoh said, has increased “rapidly” in recent years in Southeast Asia, especially in Vietnam.

According to Tosoh, output from the plant will be used in applications including elastic textiles used in sports shoes and fitness wear as well as heat insulating materials.