Specialty Polymers Solvay to Build further PEEK Production Unit in the USA

Solvay wants to expand its capacity of specialty polymers once again and builds a new plant in the USA to produce polyether etherketone. In India is the expansion of the production capacity already in progress.

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Solvay Specialty Polymers

Brussels/Belgium – Solvay recognises a growing demand for the specialty polymers polyether etherketone (PEEK) and polyaryl ether ketone (PAEK) and continues thus its expansion drive. The new unit at Solvay’s Specialty Polymers site in Augusta, Georgia, is expected to come on stream in mid-2016.

Combined with the expansion already underway at the site in Panoli, India, raise Solvay’s total PEEK neat resin production capacity to more than 2,500 Metric Tons worldwide. Collectively, Solvay will invest more than $85 million in these two expansions.

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Secured Neat Resin Supply

The new unit will be located alongside Solvay Specialty Polymers’ existing resin and monomer production units in Augusta, and benefit from the site's proximity to the GBU’s Research & Innovation center in Alpharetta, Georgia. The new PEEK unit will use the same processes and technologies as Solvay’s well-proven and highly reliable Panoli plant. These two specialty polymers play a major role in light-weighting, reducing energy consumption and in enabling high performance in demanding applications such as healthcare, electronics, oil & gas, aeronautics and automotive.

“This major expansion drive will make Solvay the only player in the industry to produce PEEK at two different sites in two different, growing regions,” said Augusto Di Donfrancesco, President of Solvay’s Specialty Polymers Global Business Unit (GBU). “The new plant in the United States together with the one in India will provide unmatched security of neat resin supply. These investments reinforce our long-term commitment to our customers worldwide.”

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