Royal DSM (Heerlen, the Netherlands; www.dsm.com) and Zhejiang NHU Co., who specializes in the production of food additives, feed additives, polymers and materials, announce the formation of a new joint venture (JV) company for the market development and manufacturing of high-performance plastics compounds based on polyphenylene sulfide, PPS. The compounds will further enhance DSM’s offering in the high performance engineering plastics space, adding to its leadership positions with Stanyl polyamide 46 and Stanyl ForTii polyamide 4T. All sales at the joint venture, including those in China, will be handled by DSM’s Marketing and Sales organization with the brand name of Xytron PPS.
The joint venture, DSM NHU Engineering Plastics (Zhejiang) Co., in which DSM will hold a 60% share and NHU 40%, will be located at Zhejiang, China. It will produce a range of high-performance engineering plastic compounds based on PPS polymer produced by NHU. The partners do not disclose financial details of the agreement or information on the capacity of the new operation. Products will be targeted principally at Automotive, as well as in Electrical and Electronics, and Industrial markets.
Subject to anti-trust and other approvals from the relevant authorities the transaction is expected to close within a few months.
The partnership will benefit from a commitment by NHU to long-term supply of PPS polymer from its existing plant in Zhejiang. This plant uses proven technology to provide high quality base polymer for compounds. NHU will also contribute its existing compounding capacity to the JV. DSM for its part brings its long-standing expertise in application development and materials science, as well as access to its global customer network.
“The new joint venture will help DSM deliver on its growth strategy, and will reinforce its High Performance Plastics portfolio as a key growth driver”, says Roelof Westerbeek, president of DSM Engineering Plastics. “PPS fits very well alongside our current range of materials, and will be particularly useful for us in presenting complete solutions for customers operating in key markets, especially automotive, electrical and electronics. PPS has a long and successful track record and a promising future, and we are very excited about presenting it to existing and new customers. We already know that the addition of PPS products into our product portfolio will be highly appreciated by our existing global key customers. It will strengthen DSM’s position as a preferred solutions provider and strengthen our current product portfolio.”