Shin-Etsu, GE Silicones to form silicone JV

TOKYO (Oct. 3)—Shin-Etsu Chemical Co. Ltd. and GE Silicones are setting up a joint venture to make silane-monomers and siloxanes at a new plant in Southeast Asia. Shin-Etsu and GE Toshiba Silicones—a GE Silicones and Toshiba Corp. joint venture—will each own 50-percent shares in the new venture. Construction of the new plant, at a location yet to be decided by the two firms, is expected to start in the second half of 2001, with production of silanes and siloxanes due to begin in April 2003, according to a joint announcement. Products will go directly to Shin-Etsu´s and GE´s silicone product manufacturing operations in the region, which will continue to operate independently, it added. "The manufacturing base of this kind requires a significant amount of investment, and the joint setup allows both companies to build a world-class production facility in a cost-effective way with the latest technologies," the firms said.