(LANXESS) - Lanxess is expanding its global production network for high-tech plastics. The specialty chemical company broke ground on a new compounding facility in the United States. Additionally, Lanxesss and U.S. chemical company DuPont will double the capacity of their joint compounding facility in Hamm-Uentrop, Germany.
The new production facility in Gastonia, North Carolina, will have an initial capacity of 20.000 metric tons per year. It will be the first compounding facility for the Lanxess high-tech plastics Durethan and Pocan in the United States. Basic polymers, such as polyamide and polybutylene terephthalate, are mixed and refined with additives in the compounding facility to produce Durethan and Pocan as per customer needs.
Lanxess and U.S. chemical company DuPont plan to double the capacity of their joint compounding facility for polybutylene terephthalate (PBT). The partner companies will invest an extra Euro 10 million in the facility in Hamm-Uentrop, Germany. The expansion is expected to create nine new jobs in addition to the 70 positions already in existence. Production is scheduled to begin in 2012. The plant is one of the largest of its kind in the world and was opened in 2004.