Japanese speciality chemicals firm Kuraray recently had a groundbreaking of its greenfield Poval (PVOH) plant located in La Porte, Texas. It is expected to have a capacity of 40,000 tonnes in the first phase. This new plant will add to Kuraray’s vast portfolio of manufacturing in the US, including EVAL (ethylene vinyl acetate) and SEPTON (co-block thermo-elastomers).

With operations to begin in early 2015, Kuraray will add an additional 107 jobs over the next two years to the Houston Bay Area. The firm has a long history in production of vinyl acetate production starting in 1926 with the production of synthetic rayon, which was cutting edge technology at the time. In the 1950s, Kuraray became Japan’s first domestic producer of synthetic fibre, becoming a world leader in the commercialisation of PVOH (Kuraray Poval) fiber under the KURALON brand.

With the new plant, Kuraray will be able to supply Poval to customers with global needs and provide the ability to second source materials from its own facilities in order to meet the increasing demand.