LANXESS opens first plant for high-tech plastics in the USA

Specialty chemicals group 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.  

LANXESS has invested USD 20 million (EUR 15 million) in its new plant in Gastonia and is creating up to 45 new jobs. The new plant will initially operate with a capacity of 20,000 metric tons a year.  

In the new compounding plant, basic polymers such as polyamide and polybutylene terephthalate are mixed and refined with special additives and glass fibers, according to customer needs, to produce the well-known Durethan and Pocan brands. Due to their excellent properties, both high-tech plastics have a wide variety of applications, including body parts, oil pans, coolant pipes, battery housings, steering rods, pedals and pedal brackets.   

These highly innovative materials 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.  

 “With our new plant in Gastonia, we are now really close to our US automotive customers and can support them in the development of lightweight, energy-saving vehicles even better than before,” said LANXESS CEO Axel C. Heitmann at today’s opening ceremony.  

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 cnike fashion