Nippon Shokubai will build a superabsorbent polymer plant capable of making 100,000 metric tons of the material per year at its European site in Antwerp, Belgium. Additionally, a second plant, capable of making 100,000 tons of acrylic acid, a SAP feedstock, will also be constructed at Antwerp. The company approved this plan this week. The expansion will serve demand in Central and Eastern Europe. 

According to the company, SAP, one of its core businesses, has shown steady growth thanks to the disposable diaper market. Nippon Shokubai is also underway with a 50,000-ton-per-year investment in Himeji, Japan. 

 

With this new European plant, Nippon Shokubai's global SAP production will be 710,000 tons per year, split nearly evenly between Japan and the rest of the world.