Arkema announces an investment plan to increase by 25% its capacity of polyamide 12 polymers, commercialized under the trademark Rilsamid®. This new capacity will be added at Arkema’s Changshu platform in China and is expected to come on stream by mid-2020. With this latest investment plan, Arkema continues to reinforce its specialty polyamide business in all three major global regions – Europe, North America and now Asia.
This investment which represents several tens of millions of euros, will support the strong demand in growth applications such as cable protection, lightweighting (metal replacement) in automobiles, improved high performance sports shoes (running, soccer, etc.) and evolving applications in the consumer electronics segment. The mid-term growth rates in these applications are expected to exceed 7% per year in Asia.
"With this latest project, the specialty polyamides business will continue to bolster its industrial, commercial and R&D presence in Asia, and confirms its commitment to supply its global customers locally. It’s energizing for our customers to see how quickly we are evolving into a local sourcing supplier, into a world-class manufacturing presence in Asia with R&D and service to match" – Julie Zhang, Regional President of Arkema’s Technical Polymers business in Asia.
