Dow Chemical Co's China sales rose more than a fifth last year, and the company said the feasibility study on a coal-to-chemicals project with Shenhua Group Corp will be concluded in the first quarter of 2009.
The United States chemical giant's sales in China reached US$3.3 billion last year, up from US$2.7 billion in 2006 amid robust demand, said Jim McIlvenny, president of Dow Asia Pacific and China.
The company also plans to add 400 employees in China, its third-largest market, this year, bringing the total to 2,900. McIlvenny said most sectors which Dow serves, such as home appliances, personal care, construction and electronics, are forecast to rise an average 15 percent this year in China.
Some emerging segments like wind-farm equipment manufacturing could even double or triple.
"The growth rates are just good," he said.
Meanwhile, McIlvenny said the two-year feasibility study with Chinese coal major Shenhua on the huge coal-to-chemicals complex project is progressing well and an application report could be submitted to the National Development and Reform Commission, China's top industry planning body, for approval in the first quarter of next year.
Dow is committed to invest US$5 billion in the coal-to-chemicals joint venture, in Shaanxi Province, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Andrew N. Liveris said in Shanghai in December.
The project will convert coal to methanol to produce ethylene and propylene. The company will open its Dow Center in Shanghai this year, with a staff of 700 scientists.