Producer
Dairen Chemical Corporation
Taiwanese vinyl acetate monomer and PVA (polyvinyl alcohol) producer (HQ Kaohsiung; Formosa Plastics Group affiliate; listed on Taiwan Stock Exchange; TSE: 1702); one of Asia-Pacific's largest VAM producers using acetic acid and ethylene feedstock from the Mailiao industrial complex (Formosa Plastics Group's integrated petrochemical site). Dairen Chemical's VAM is sold to downstream VAE emulsion producers (including Wacker Chemie and Chinese emulsion producers) and converted internally to polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) for use in paper coatings, textiles, and adhesives. PVA (polyvinyl alcohol) from Dairen serves the optical film market (polarizer films for LCD panels and smartphones — the same PVA that helps display your smartphone screen uses the same Dairen monomer feedstock as interior wall paint).
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Vinyl Acetate Monomer (VAM)
55%Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA)
35%Emulsion Products
10%
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Did you know2024
Dairen Chemical's polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) appears simultaneously in two supply chains that would not recognize themselves as sharing a Taiwanese chemical supplier: (1) consumer architecture/construction — PVA goes into VAE emulsions used in interior architectural paints, tile adhesives, and construction coatings, present in virtually every painted room in Taiwan, China, and Southeast Asia; and (2) consumer electronics displays — optical-grade PVA is a critical raw material in the polarizer films used in LCD displays, without which smartphone, TV, and monitor screens cannot function. The same Kaohsiung/Mailiao-produced PVA that thickens the adhesive mortar for bathroom tiles is also the aligned polymer that polarizes light in the LCD screen used to look at the recipe for the tile installation. The display supply chain (Samsung, LG, BOE) and the construction adhesive supply chain (Sika, Mapei, Chinese adhesive brands) share a VAM/PVA supplier in a Formosa Group affiliate that most participants in either market have never heard of.
Dairen Chemical Corporation ↗Origin2023
Dairen Chemical Corporation was established as part of the Formosa Plastics Group's downstream diversification from PVC into acetyl chemistry at the Mailiao industrial complex in Yunlin County, Taiwan. The Mailiao complex — built on reclaimed tidal flatland on Taiwan's west coast in the 1990s at a cost exceeding $10B — is one of the world's largest integrated petrochemical facilities. Dairen Chemical uses ethylene (from Formosa Petrochemical's Mailiao crackers) and acetic acid to produce vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) on a scale that makes Taiwan a globally significant VAM export hub. The Mailiao campus colocation allows Dairen Chemical to source feedstocks at near-transfer-pricing rather than market cost — a structural cost advantage over standalone chemical companies.
Dairen Chemical Corporation ↗