Arkema (Colombes, France; www.arkema.com) has revealed plans to expand its specialty polyamides production capacities in China and the U.S.
In China, at its Zhangjiagang site (Jiangsu Province) specialized in biosourced specialty polyamides, Arkema is increasing its compounding capacities, and in 2017 will bring onstream two production lines to manufacture polyamide 11 in addition to polyamide 10, which is already produced on the site.
With these developments and other investments made in recent years on the site amounting to €10 million overall, Arkema is significantly consolidating its offering together with the flexibility of its manufacturing plants in Asia for biosourced polyamides marketed under the trade name Rilsan.
In the U.S., a new investment in the Birdsboro site (Pennsylvania) will enable the manufacture of new Pebax biosourced grades for the sports and electronics market.
These investments are part of the development of the Group’s research and growth platforms related to weight reduction of materials, design of materials, solutions for electronics, and the development of biosourced products.