MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sumitomo Bakelite Co., Ltd. announced its intention to open a new manufacturing line to produce epoxy encapsulation composite materials for automotive applications at its Belgian production subsidiary, Vyncolit NV, said the company.
The investment will provide local manufacturing capacity for specialist encapsulation materials in the automotive and new mobility fields in Europe, with the company aiming to reach sales in the encapsulation compound market of ?12 billion (approximately USD111.6 million) by its 2025 fiscal year.
Due to the recent rapid adoption of electric (EV) and hybrid (HV) vehicles, coupled with increasingly complex IT systems in new mobility solutions, Sumitomo Bakelite is expanding its production capacity to meet the increasing demand for epoxy encapsulation materials in automotive applications. According to the company, local production capacity and prototyping facilities will enhance the automotive materials offering and the development of bespoke customer solutions. The new European production line will come online for industrial supply in early 2022, with a production capacity of several thousand tons per year.
"I am delighted to confirm that we will add dedicated epoxy encapsulation material production at our Ghent facility," said general manager and director of Vyncolit NV. “This new capacity, positioned close to our leading European customers, broadens our material portfolio and will allow us to tailor encapsulation solutions specifically for each customer."
As MRC informed earlier, Russia's output of chemical products rose in June 2020 by 2.6% year on year. However, production of basic chemicals increased year on year by 4.9% in the first six months of 2020. According to the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation, polymers in primary form accounted for the greatest increase in the output in January-June. Production of benzene was 106,000 tonnes in June 2020, compared to 110,000 tonnes a month earlier. Overall output of this product reached 721,000 tonnes over the stated period, up by 3.9% year on year.
Sumitomo Bakelite’s current epoxy portfolio covers a wide range of applications used in EVs including high-speed permanent magnet rotors, stator insulation and coil impregnation, which help weigh ratio and performance. The producer has been a key supplier of semiconductor encapsulation materials, used in the production of computers, smart-phones and servers. This will enable manufacturing of electronics in the automotive industry, such as overmoulding for small actuators, engine and transmission control units and power modules which allow for tamperproof packaging.
MRC