The U.S. economy is growing at a steady, high performance polymer market
The U.S. economy is growing at a steady, high performance polymer market
The French chemicals giant akoma has announced that it will expand its new Kepstan polyether ketone (PEKK) capacity in France and the United States to meet rising demand for carbon fiber composite materials and 3D printing applications. Akoma plans to double its French factory capacity by the middle of 2016. The company also plans to build a PEKK plant at its Mobile production base in Alabama, where it will start production in the second half of 2018.
Solvey announced that it will invest $85 million to build a new polyether ether ketone (PEEK) production facility at the Augusta special polymer plant in the United States, which is expected to start production in mid-2016. Add in the expansion of the company's current plant in pennori, India, where the global PEEK resin capacity will net 2,500 tonnes.
Wacke chemical has announced that it will invest more than $50 million to build a plant in Calvert, Kentucky, that will increase capacity by 85,000 tons per year.
Arkema sol peacekeeping announced almost at the same time expand poly (aryl ether ketone production capacity in North America, mainly because the U.S. economy stable growth and demand, and the rest of the world demand is still stagnant. The U.S. high performance polymer market is not only huge, but it's also getting bigger, according to JayDwivedi, an analyst at PrincipiaConsulting in the United States.
Dwivedi points out that the other applications of polyaryether ketones include medical implants and specialty electronics. In addition, the earnings outlook for these special polymers is still significant, selling for more than $60 / kg and is expected to maintain growth of almost 10 per cent in future demand.
Industry insiders say the investment projects show that the us is still the preferred location for chemical companies and not only for chemical plants such as ethylene cracking.
