Seoul - South Korean chemicals group SKC Ltd said 19 Nov that it has completed its 20-kilotonnes-per-annum (ktpa) capacity plant to produce polyurethane systems, in the special economic zone in Dzierzoniow, in south-western Poland.
The plant, called SKC Europe PU, took seven months to build, and will blend PU raw materials to make flexible foam, including car-seat pads, and for rigid foam for insulation for housing and cold-storage facilities, SKC said, in a statement in Korean.
The South Korean propylene oxide (PO) and polyols producer said it aims to have six global systems plants by 2013, adding units in India and Southeast Asia, to increase its total systems capacity to 100 000 ktpa.
As with the company's other new systems house in the US, the Polish operation will also provide systems to locally-based makers of automotive parts and home appliances in Europe and Russia, as well as in Turkey. Some of these component makers supply Korean car plants in Europe.
SKC said it will also export materials produced in Dzierzoniow to other parts of Europe.
In May, SKC completed a US polyurethane systems plant in Covington, Georgia. Outside Korea, it also operates a systems house in the Chinese capital, Beijing. The group also has the capability to make systems at its Ulsan site in South Korea.
The company is the only PO producer in Korea, with 280 ktpa total capacity, 100 ktpa of this made using the innovative hydrogen-peroxide to PO technology which SKC licensed from Evonik and Uhde.
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