Global acetyls producer Celanese plans to double its acetic acid capacity to 1.2 m tonnes/year at its production facility in Nanjing, China, by the end of 2009 to meet growing demand, the company said in a statement. An increase in capacity would cost lesser than building a new facility due to its new proprietary technology AOPlus®2, said the statement released on 11 May. According to the company the new technology enables the producer to raise acetic acid production from 1.2 m tonnes/year per reactor to approximately 1.5 m tonnes at a fraction of the cost of a new facility. The company said it was currently evaluating options for additional manufacturing capacities in Asia for downstream vinyl acetate ethylene (VAE), which is a water-based emulsion.