TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Chemtrade Logistics Income Fund (TSX: CHE.UN) announced a joint venture with privately held Kanto Group for the greenfield construction of a high purity sulphuric acid plant. The joint venture, KPCT Advanced Chemicals LLC will build a plant in Casa Grande, Arizona with an expected start-up in 2024. The high purity production process will be based on Kanto Group technology, which is currently in use in Taiwan and Japan supplying the leading semiconductor producers in Asia. The plant will have a total annual capacity of approximately 100,000MT of electronic grade acid.
The project is expected to cost between US$175 and US$250 million; however, detailed engineering plans and cost estimates are expected to be complete in Q4 2022. Kanto Group and Chemtrade own 51% and 49%, respectively, of this joint venture.
Scott Rook, President, and CEO of Chemtrade said, “We are excited to partner with Kanto Group, a global technology leader in high purity chemicals for electronic manufacturing. For years, Chemtrade has been the primary manufacturer of ultrapure sulphuric acid in the North American market. This joint venture allows us to expand our North American position and meet the growing needs of the semiconductor manufacturers.”
KPPC Advanced Chemicals Inc. CEO, Jerry Lu commented, “Kanto Group is pleased to partner with Chemtrade and to leverage both parties’ strengths to bring new high-quality sulphuric acid capacity to serve the growing North American electronic chemicals market.”
About Chemtrade
Chemtrade operates a diversified business providing industrial chemicals and services to customers in North America and around the world. Chemtrade is one of North America’s largest suppliers of sulphuric acid, spent acid processing services, inorganic coagulants for water treatment, sodium chlorate, sodium nitrite, sodium hydrosulphite and phosphorus pentasulphide. Chemtrade is a leading regional supplier of sulphur, chlor-alkali products, liquid sulphur dioxide, and zinc oxide. Additionally, Chemtrade provides industrial services such as processing by-products and waste streams.
Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this news release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of certain securities laws, including the Securities Act (Ontario). Forward-looking statements can be generally identified by the use of words such as “anticipate”, “continue”, “estimate”, “expect”, “expected”, “intend”, “may”, “will”, “project”, “plan”, “should”, “believe” and similar expressions. Specifically, forward-looking statements in this news release include statements respecting certain future expectations about: the anticipated start-up timing, total annual capacity, and cost of the new high purity sulphuric acid plant. Forward-looking statements in this news release describe the expectations of the Fund and its subsidiaries as of the date hereof. These statements are based on assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements for a variety of reasons, including without limitation the risks and uncertainties detailed under the “RISK FACTORS” section of the Fund’s latest Annual Information Form and the “RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES” section of the Fund’s most recent Management’s Discussion & Analysis.
