(lanxess) -- LANXESS has opened its first production plant for high-tech plastics in the United States. With the new facility in Gastonia in the U.S. state of North Carolina, the company will help to meet the growing demand for premium, lightweight plastics. The amount of the company's investement in the new facility makes USD 20 million (EUR 15 million). The new plant will initially operate with a capacity of 20,000 metric tons a year.
Lanxess' highly innovative materials (Durethan and Pocan brands) help to build much lighter plastic parts that can replace metal ones in motor vehicles, helping to reduce fuel consumption and emissions. Furthermore, the materials enable automobile manufacturers and suppliers to achieve more freedom in design and considerable savings in production.
The new LANXESS site in Gastonia is on the fringe of the so-called "auto belt" in the southern USA. Numerous car manufacturers - including a number of German companies - and auto suppliers have settled in the states of North and South Carolina. And around a quarter of North American auto suppliers - including many LANXESS customers - operate manufacturing facilities in North Carolina.
Demand for high-tech plastics is being driven, above all, by the trend towards lighter automobiles and rising car production. The global demand for high-tech plastics is expected to increase by roughly seven percent per year through 2020. In addition, the plastic content of any car can amount to 20 percent - a figure that is showing an upward trend. The USA is the largest market for high-tech plastics, with the automotive industry at the forefront.
LANXESS is a leader in specialty chemicals. Its core business comprises the development, manufacture and sale of plastics, rubber, specialty chemicals and intermediates.
MRC