MOSCOW (MRC) -- A. Schulman Inc., a leading international supplier of high-performance plastic compounds, composites, powders and resins, has announced that it has expanded its existing compounding capacity by adding two new production lines at the Kerpen plant in Germany, said the producer on its site.
In addition to the two twin screw extruders, the company has invested in a fully automatic packaging line.
"The additional compounding capacity will address the continued growth in high-performance compounds," said Heinrich Lingnau, Senior Vice President and General Manager Europe, Middle East and Africa, A. Schulman. "With this investment A. Schulman is supporting the increasing customer demand for current and future developments in the automotive as well as electrical & electronics markets."
"This investment is indeed aligned with the expansion of our product portfolio, and in particular with the production of our new range of Ecotran PPS compounds," added Horst Klink, Vice President Engineering Plastics, EMEA. "In addition, it will increase our flexibility in production to better serve our customers with tailor-made specialty compounds."
Earlier in 2015, the company announced additional PET compounding capacity at its Bornem masterbatch plant in Belgium.
As MRC reported earlier, A. Schulman Inc. plans to spend 5 million to EUR7 mln (USD5.5 mln to USD7.7 mln) on a new masterbatch facility in Turkey, to tap into market growth in the region. The facility, in the greater Istanbul area, will have annual production capacity of about 40 million pounds of the company’s additive, white and breathable masterbatches for the food and industrial packaging markets. It’s expected to be in production at the end of the Fairlawn, Ohio-based company’s 2016 fiscal year, which closes Aug. 31, 2016.
A. Schulman is a global plastics supplier, headquartered in Akron, Ohio, and a leading international supplier of high-performance plastic compounds and resins, which are used as raw materials in a variety of markets. A. Schulman has 33 manufacturing facilities globally. A. Schulman's fiscal third-quarter earnings fell 69% amid continued sluggishness in European markets and higher-than-expected costs in Latin America, where the company has been consolidating its Brazilian operations.
MRC