Lanxess starts up new line at US plant
Lanxess has started up a second production line at its polyamide (PA) and polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) polymer compounding plant in Gastonia, North Carolina, the Germany-based specialty chemicals firm confirmed on January 8, 2016
The USD 15 million line doubles the plant’s capacity to 40000 tonnes/year. The plant mixes basic PA and PBT polymers and refines them with additives and glass fibre. The company had announced the project in August 2014.
The Gastonia plant supplies plastic products that are used in the automotive industry to manufacture lighter-weight plastic components.
In the coming years, Lanxess plans to invest an additional EUR 50-100 million to drive organic growth in its high-performance plastics business.
“With the investments, we will be further balancing the capacities in our polyamide value chain and driving the globalisation of our engineering plastic business,” said Michael Zobel, head of Lanxess’ business unit High Performance Materials.
Lanxess expects global demand for engineering plastics in automotive applications to grow at a 7% compound annual growth rate between 2015 and 2020, driven by rising car production and the trend towards more fuel-efficient automobiles.