France: Polymers Hexcel Opens 229 Million Dollar Carbon Fiber Facility

The 37-acre plant is operational and is expected to increase the firm’s global carbon fiber production capacity. The facility has also generated 370 jobs for the locals.

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Salaise-Sur-Sanne/France – Hexcel has officially opened its new carbon fiber plant at the Les Roches-Roussillon Chemicals Industry Platform in Isère, France. Muriel Pénicaud, French Labor Minister, Yannick Neuder, Vice-President of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region for higher education, research, innovation and European funding, and Nick Stanage, Hexcel Chairman, CEO and President, as well as local dignitaries, media representatives and Hexcel customers, partners and employees were in attendance.

The new 37-acre plant is devoted to the manufacture of carbon fiber and pan precursor. Four years after the project launch on September 30, 2014, the site is operational and increasing the firm’s global carbon fiber production capacity. The company invested 229 million dollars in the plant. It will generate 120 direct jobs and 250 indirect positions. Hexcel’s workforce in France has now risen to 1,200 people with more than 1,000 employees located in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.

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Regional Footprint

Based at the Osiris Chemicals Industry Platform, the location was chosen by the firm due to its proximity to other Hexcel sites, its quality infrastructure and operational excellence and the availability of competitively priced electricity in France.

Operating in synergy with the company’s existing sites in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Les Avenières, the biggest carbon fiber weaving plant in Europe, and Dagneux, manufacturer of prepreg fabrics and carbon fibers, the new plant will create a global ecosystem for the high-performance composite materials sector covering the entire production chain from carbon fiber to resin-impregnated fabrics called prepreg.

The firm has also announced the launch of a 3,500 sq m R&D center at the Les Avenières site scheduled for the first quarter of 2019 with a focus on new processes and Out of Autoclave technologies. This will support innovations in high-performance composites and continue to grow its market share in composite materials for aerostructure applications.

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