Johnson Matthey tech to be used at new butanol facility in China

Johnson Matthey, alongside its partner Dow, announced on Thursday that China-based Guangxi Huayi New Material Company has selected their ‘LP Oxo ‘SELECTOR 10’ Technology to produce butanol at a new manufacturing facility.

The FTSE 250 company said that under the license, the plant would be built at Huayi’s integrated petrochemical complex in Qinzhou Port, China with an annual butanol capacity of 300,000 metric tons.

It explained that the LP Oxo SELECTOR 10 technology, licensed through Dow and Johnson Matthey, enabled the efficient production of butanol with low capital investment and operating cost.

Johnson Matthey and Dow provided their licensees customised plant designs, performance warranties, technical support pre- and post-plant start-up, ongoing technology updates, and more.

To date, the suite of LP Oxo technology had been licensed into a “significant” number of projects across 15 countries, representing a majority of the world's oxo alcohols capacity licensed over the past 45 years,” the companies said.

“The new facility will represent our 55th license of LP OxoSM Technology in partnership with Dow,” said Johnson Matthey managing director John Gordon.

“Our technology with advanced engineering design and services have generated value for licensees for over 45 years, and we are eager to work hand-in-hand with Huayi from start-up to ongoing operations to keep delivering that value.”

At 0840 GMT, shares in Johnson Matthey were down 0.89% at 2,683p.