(PlasticsToday) -- Japan's DIC Corp. (Tokyo, Japan) is targeting a full-fledged entry into the European market for polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) resins through the start-up of a compounding operation in Vienna, Austria by early 2013. In order to establish a presence in the European market prior to this., DIC acquired the PPS compounding business of Solvay in September this year.
The 14 million Euro ($18.7 million) Vienna plant will have an initial capacity of 6,000 tonnes/year, expandable to 10,000 tonnes/year. A key focus for its output will be metal substitution in the automotive sector.
DIC pegs the European market for PPS at 15,000 tonnes annually, or about half that of the Japanese market. It forecasts the European market to grow at 6-8% per annum in coming years and the company wants to capture a 20% share . DIC estimated global demand for PPS compounds for the year ended March 2011 at 73,000 tonnes while globally, the market is growing at 8% per annum.
DIC's European initiative is the latest in a series of investments to consolidate its position as the world's leading supplier of PPS compounds.