Plant Expansions

Luxembourg-based cap/closure maker United Caps has officially opened its new manufacturing plant located in Kulim, Malaysia. During the event, it also launched a brand-new product designed specifically to meet the needs of the Asian market, known as 127 SAFE-TE for baby food safety and convenience with security features and a gold colour…

Materials provider Trinseo plans to set up a thermoplastic elastomers (TPE) pilot facility in Hsinchu, Taiwan. The TPE pilot facility is said to emphasise Trinseo’s growth strategy for TPEs globally and will serve customers in the automotive, consumer electronics, footwear and medical markets. The pilot facility will be built at…

US auxiliary products maker Maguire Products, Inc. has established Maguire Products Taiwan as a new subsidiary, in Taichung, to serve the large and growing Taiwanese market for plastics auxiliary equipment. The new company will serve local customers with sales and technical support for Maguire Weigh Scale Blenders, Ultra Low Energy…

Japanese automotive materials supplier Sekisui Chemical is building a new production line in the Netherlands for interlayer films and due for completion by the end of this year. Work is also scheduled to commence on a new plant for thermal management materials around the middle of next year. The firm…

German recycler Alba Group is expanding its activities in Asia with the groundbreaking for its first recycling plant for the processing of PET and HDPE waste in Hong Kong, with a planned capacity of 35,000 tonnes/year. The plant will be operated by the joint venture New Life Plastics Ltd. that…

German specialty chemicals company Lanxess has inaugurated its new compounding plant in Changzhou, China. The facility produces Durethan- and Pocan-branded high-tech plastics, especially for the automotive sector and the electrical and electronics industry. “This facility was built to address several strategically vital markets,” said Hubert Fink, Member of the Lanxess…

Germany’s Wacker Chemie AG is intensifying its research activities on silicon-based materials for high-performance batteries by taking a holding in UK-based Nexeon Ltd. The Munich-based chemical company says that it is acquiring a 25% stake in the UK specialist for new battery materials. Wacker and Nexeon have agreed not to…

Germany-based Covestro is further accelerating its global R&D capabilities, with its innovation centre Japan (ICJ) now ready and equipped to further provide innovative solutions and material developments focusing especially on automotive and construction segment. The laboratory upgrade will further increase the prototype capabilities to create innovative solutions for Japanese industrial…

German chemicals firm BASF has opened a new research laboratory for pigments, manufactured and marketed under its global brand Colors & Effects, in Besigheim, Germany. “With the installation of this research laboratory in Besigheim, we are strengthening the rapid development of near-market innovations. Through the complete on-site support and the…

German chemicals firm BASF and the Japanese fine chemical company DIC have reached an agreement on the acquisition of BASF’s global pigments business. The purchase price on a cash and debt-free basis is EUR1.15 billion. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2020. The divestiture is…