Specialty chemicals company Lanxess has started up a second production line for its glass fiber plastic compounds at its facility in Gastonia, North Carolina, USA.
The new line represents an investment of about US$15 million and doubles the site’s production capacity from 20,000 to 40,000 metric tons annually.
In the plant, the basic polymers polyamide (PA) and polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) are mixed and refined with special additives and glass fiber to make the Durethan and Pocan plastic product lines. They are used primarily in the automotive industry to manufacture lighter-weight plastic components that can replace metal parts in vehicles.
In the coming years, Lanxess plans to further invest €50–100 million for organic growth in its plastics business. ‘With the investments, we will be further balancing the capacities in our polyamide value chain and driving the globalization of our engineering plastics business,’ said Michael Zobel, head of Lanxess' business unit High Performance Materials.
This story uses material from Lanxess, with editorial changes made by Materials Today. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of Elsevier.