CANCUN, Mexico — Diamonchem International Co. Ltd. is mulling a new zinc oxide plant in Taiwan in the next two to three years, head of research Wei-Chung Chen said.

Diamonchem in October bought 14,000 square meters of land in Taichung for the plant, but no decision to build has yet been made, she told AMM at the International Zinc Association conference in Cancun.

Chang Hwa Hsien-based Diamonchem’s three existing plants in Taiwan have a combined annual capacity of some 30,000 tonnes, Chen said, noting that the new plant’s capacity is unknown as plans remain preliminary.

The company is optimistic about demand in 2013 after a disappointing 2012. "Last year was bad, especially with the European crisis and the fact that China wasn’t growing as fast as expected. Sales were not as good," Chen said, citing lower automotive and tire output.

"But now, Europe is (experiencing) a slight recovery. We still don’t know about China though (and) zinc oxide demand depends on them. (But) it should be better than last year," she added.