Korean Adhesives Plant Blast Kills Three

Abstract

Three people were killed and 12 were injured in an explosion on Sunday, Aug. 18, at a plant manufacturing carbon fiber composite adhesives in South Korea. The blast occurred at the Pyungtaek Works of Dongwoo Fine-Chem, a company 82% owned by Sumitomo Chemical. Production trials were under way at the plant as Sumitomo was in the process of transferring production of the adhesives, used by airplane manufacturers, to the site from a facility in Osaka, Japan, that was scheduled to be shut down. Other units at the complex were not damaged. The cause of the blast is unknown, a Dongwoo executive dispatched to Pyungtaek says. But he notes that epichlorohydrin and m-aminophenol are two of the major raw materials for the adhesive. Sumitomo will continue to supply customers from its Osaka facilities. Dongwoo Fine-Chem is mostly a supplier of fine chemicals and materials to the Korean electronics industry. At the ...