Arkema expands PA capacities in China/US

French chemicals manufacturer Arkemais supporting its customers’ growth around the world, in particular in the sports, consumer electronics and automotive markets by expanding its speciality polyamides production capacities in China and the US.

In China, at its Zhangjiagang site (Jiangsu Province) specialised in biosourced speciality polyamides, Arkema is increasing its compounding capacities and in 2017 will bring on stream two production lines to manufacture polyamide 11 in addition to polyamide 10 already produced on the site. Rilsan polyamide 11 features resistance to impact and to chemicals, light weight and easy processing for use in the automotive, consumer electronics and sports sectors.

With these developments and other investments made in recent years on the site amounting to EUR10 million overall, Arkema is significantly consolidating its offering together with the flexibility of its manufacturing plants in Asia for biosourced polyamides marketed under the trade name Rilsan.

In the US, a new investment in the Birdsboro site (Pennsylvania) will enable the manufacture of new Pebax biosourced grades for the sports and electronics market.

Hence Arkema is complementing its Pebax thermoplastic elastomer range particularly sought after for light weight, impact resistance, sturdiness and flexibility at temperatures as low as -40°C.

These investments are part of the development of the Group’s research and growth platforms related to weight reduction of materials, design of materials, solutions for electronics, and the development of biosourced products.