SOLON, Ohio (Dec. 4) — Excel Polymers L.L.C. and Mitsui and Co. Ltd. are forming a joint venture in southern China to produce rubber compounds.
Operating under the Excel name as EXLP Global (Forshan) Co. Ltd., the facility will be 61-percent owned by Excel and 39 percent by Mitsui. The greenfield site will take about a year to complete and represent an investment of $15 million, according to John Quinn, Excel president and CEO.
The plant—Excel's second in China—will have an annual production capacity of more than 50 million pounds of natural and synthetic rubber compounds when it begins operating in 2008, the firm said. Quinn said the company's relationship with the Toyota keiretsu, or family of companies, encouraged Excel to expand at the site, about 25 miles south of Guangzhou.
Mitsui is a $100 billion trading company with an established presence in China, said Steve Nieto, Excel vice president of specialty products and sourcing. Mitsui has a strong role in the Japanese automotive market, which the new plant will serve, along with rolls, paper, textiles and other rubber product makers.
The factory will be built at the Shunde Science and Technology Industrial Park in Guangdong Province.
Excel's other facility in China is in Shanghai, and recently was expanded.