Warrington, England - Perstorp, the world's largest supplier of caprolactones and polycaprolactones, continues to grow.
The plant expansion at its Warrington site is on track to reach mechanical completion by the end of the year and begin commissioning in early 2011. The expanded plant is expected to come fully on stream in the summer of 2011, according to an 11 Oct press release.
No details of the resultant or current capacity were revealed, and the company would only describe the investment involved as "substantial," but reported market growth for the materials as running at more than 5 percent a year.
"Our investment in a doubled capacity for caprolactones has continued throughout the global economic recession," said Marten Olausson, vice president of Caprolactones in the press release. "We have a strong belief in the future of the Capa product range and are committed to supporting and developing the caprolactone market," he added.
Caprolactones improve the properties and end-product quality of polyurethane products used in coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers applications, the notice explained. The firm's Capa-tradenamed products allow formulators to tailor even more precise properties in their end products, it claims, adding that they also possess low viscosity, resulting in improved processability and lower VOC levels. They are especially used in applications such as injection grade TPUs, synthesis of PUDs (polyurethane dispersions), cast elastomers, reactive hot-melt adhesives and light-stable flexible coatings for leather and many other substrates, the company release concluded.
Perstorp has about 2200 employees and manufacturing units in 11 countries in Asia, Europe and North America. Sales in the last twelve months amounted to more than SEK 13 billion (almost $2 billion). At the end of 2005 the Perstorp Group was acquired by Perstorp Holding AB, which is controlled by the French private equity company PAI partners.
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