Clariant to boost capabilities of major plants

Clariant is investing  more than CHF 7.5 million in specialized equipment and facilities to expand capabilities and capacities for the production of color and additive masterbatches for use in engineering resins and high-temperature plastics like PEEK.  The largest investment of the company to date has been earmarked for plants in Shanghai, Singapore, and at two plants in the U.S.A.

To work effectively in polymers that are processed at temperatures of 300°C or higher, masterbatches must be specially formulated using not only the same high-temperature base material, but also special pigments and additives that can stand up to extreme levels of heat and shear. Compounding and extrusion equipment must also be configured to operate under these extreme conditions. Three Clariant Masterbatches plants in the United States –Holden, Massachusetts, Lewiston, Maine, and Albion, Michigan – are already experienced in working with both engineering and high-temperature materials. Capabilities in Asia have previously been more limited, focusing mainly on engineering materials (like ABS, polycarbonate and certain nylons), which are processed at moderate temperatures. Customers in this region often had to source the more advanced products from overseas, thus resulting in longer product development and delivery times.

Global demand for high-temperature plastics and compatible masterbatches is booming, according to Jeff Saeger, who heads the expansion program for Clariant. Fueled by new products in the automotive, small consumer electronics and electrical markets, the use of engineering materials is growing at annual rates of 7 or 8%, well above the growth rate of the plastics industry as a whole.

Clariant has state-of-the-art capabilities in the United States to handle these materials and the rest of the other Clariant plants are expected to gain the same expertise. In Shanghai, where Clariant is implementing the full range of equipment and procedures required for engineering and high temperature resins, new production lines and associated capabilities will be in place by the end of 2016. In the United States, the company installed equipment for processing fluoropolymers in Lewiston, Maine, in late 2015, and new lines for specialty engineering compounds and black masterbatch for high-temperature resins will be added in Holden, Massachusetts, beginning in first quarter 2016.