BlueStar to build new specialty chemical plant in Tianjin

China National Chemical Corporation (ChemChina) has injected US$3.30 billion (RMB24.5 billion) in its specialty chemicals unit China National BlueStar to build a new chemical plant in Tianjin, the Shanghai Securities News reported. Construction began Thursday. According to Yang Xingqiang, general manager for BlueStar, the 3.88 square kilometer plant will include 15 units and become partially operational in 2009. It will be completed in 2011 at which point it is expected to generate US$4.04 billion (RMB30 billion) in revenue every year and make an annual tax contribution of US$485.04 (RMB3.6 billion). The world-class Tianjin plant will hold its own intellectual property on high value-added, energy-saving and environmentally-friendly technologies, Yang said. Separately, ChemChina announced plans last week to pay US$2.8 billion in cash for the Australian agricultural chemicals maker Nufarm in a consortium with private equity and buyout groups Blackstone and Fox Paine. Nufarm said it would agree to the deal in the absence of a better offer and subject to an independent experts report. ChemChina is the largest producer of pesticides in China. Nufarm has manufacturing operations in 14 nations and sells its products – mostly herbicides used to protect crops – in 100 countries. The global market for herbicides and pesticides is worth $36 billion. ChemChina is the first state-owned Chinese company to team up with buyout firms for an overseas acquisition. [Additional reporting by TCP]