The expansion of production capacity for Gurit's newly PVC-based core material range at China Techno Foam in Qingdao, China, will result in an investment of some CHF5 million. The new capacity is scheduled to become operational by summer 2011.
Gurit acquired a majority stake in Chinese company China Techno Foam Co Ltd in October 2009.
Gurit says that the PVCell G-Foam family, which was developed for the manufacture of wind turbine rotor blades for the Chinese market, has met with positive customer response since its market launch in August. “After successfully ramping up production, we are very pleased to announce that the manufacturing capacity at China Techno Foam will soon be doubled to meet the increasing demand of the local Chinese wind turbine blade manufacturers,” says Rudolf Gerber, General Manager, Wind Energy, at Gurit.
The companies of Gurit Holding AG, Wattwil, Switzerland, specialise in advanced composite materials and related technologies, including prepregs, core materials, gel-coats, adhesives and resins, as well as certain finished parts. Wind energy is one of Gurit's key target markets.