Karsten Smet, CEO of ACI Group, looks at how we can prepare for further geopolitical upheaval

During its Q2 results presentation, Chemours announced a decision to close its Kuan Yin TiO₂ manufacturing facility in Taiwan (pictured). The firm described this as “part of a comprehensive strategy to improve the earnings quality of TT – producers of the popular Ti-Pure brand – by optimising its manufacturing circuit”.

Merck KGaA has broken ground for a new production facility on a 150,000 m² site for its Semiconductor Solutions business at Kaohsiung, Taiwan. It will produce speciality gases and semiconductor materials for thin film and patterning from 2025 onwards.

Semiconductor Solutions has been designated as one Merck’s ‘Big 3’ growth drivers. It forms part of the Electronics business sector, which started its ‘Level Up’ growth programme in 2021 with the aim of investing “significantly more than €3 billion” in innovations and capacity expansion projects by 2025.

Japan’s Mitsubishi Gas Chemical (MCG) has revealed that it is building an industrial hydrogen peroxide at the site of its Taiwanese subsidiary. Due onstream in early 2020, this will have capacity of some 40,000 tonnes/year.

MCG further said that this is part of its plans to grow in with super-pure hydrogen peroxide (SPHP) for electronic applications. SPHP is widely used in as a cleaning, etching and abrading agent in semiconductor wafer and device.