Celanese Corp. plans to expand the capacity of its global compounding assets and certain product- specific manufacturing production sites to support significant growth in its engineered materials business.
"As the global demand for specialty materials increases in key industries such as medical, automotive, consumer goods and electronics, Celanese is partnering with our customers to deliver the innovative materials found in products that consumers around the world use every day," said Scott Richardson, senior vice president, Celanese engineered materials business. "These planned capacity expansions at selected Celanese facilities -- along with our recent acquisitions -- will enable us to continue to support a growing and diverse customer base and respond to the increasing need for compounded specialty materials, long-fiber thermoplastics and ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene."
Expansions are planned within the global Celanese manufacturing network as follows:
1. Compounding capacity expansions. In Asia, Celanese will add two production lines at its Nanjing, China, facility and one production line at its recently acquired Suzhou, China, facility. In the Americas, Celanese will add two production lines at its Florence, Kentucky, facility, as well as expand compounding production capacity at its Bishop, Texas, facility. In the European region, Celanese will add one new production line at its recently acquired Forli, Italy, facility. Celanese expects these new production lines and expansions to add approximately 50-60 kilotons per year in compounding capacity. The company also expects, through the debottlenecking of existing global production lines, to see an additional 10-15 kilotons per year capacity of compounded material production capability.
These projects are expected to be completed in the 2018-2019 timeframe.
2. Celstran® long-fiber thermoplastics (LFT) capacity expansions. In the Americas, Celanese is in the process of adding one new Celstran long-fiber thermoplastics production line at its Winona, Minnesota, facility, as well as debottlenecking existing production lines at this facility. The company expects, through this expansion and the debottlenecking of existing global LFT production lines, to see an additional 9 kilotons per year of capacity.
3.GUR® ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMW-PE) capacity expansions. In Asia, Celanese is in the planning stages of one new GUR UHMW-PE production line at its Nanjing facility. The company expects this new production line to add approximately 15 kilotons per year of new GUR UHMWPE product capacity.
These projects are expected to be completed in the 2018-2019 timeframe, and financial details are not being disclosed at this time.
For more information, visit www. celanese.com or call (972) 443-4000.
