BlueStar and Toray Join Hands in RO Membrane Production        

China National BlueStar (Group) Co., Ltd. and Toray Industries Inc. of Japan have agreed to form a joint venture Toray Blue Star Membrane Co., Ltd. in Beijing, for producing reverse osmosis (RO) membrane.
   The two sides signed an agreement at the end of November 2008.
   The proposed jv will be established before May 2009 with a capital of US$35 million, which will be engaged in production, sales and import and export of water treatment membrane products.
   The new jv will invest approximately RMB500 million in construction of facilities for manufacturing RO membrane and assembly of membrane elements in Shunyi Development Zone, Beijing. Construction is expected to start in May 2009 with scheduled operations in April 2010.
   The new Toray Blue Star will combine Toray's updated water-treatment membrane technologies with BlueStar's sales network in the country to supply water treatment membranes, acquiring the world's best quality and cost competitiveness.
   With the establishment of the jv, Toray plans to move its core sales from Beijing and Shanghai to the new jv, which will take over all of water treatment membrane-related sales activities for the Chinese market.
   The RO membrane market in China is expected to annually grow 20% in the next five years.