Hexpol's Elasto to produce TPEs in China

ERJ staff report (PN)

Malmo, Sweden -- Hexpol AB plans to start making thermoplastic elastomer compounds in China.

The Malmö-based company announced that its Elasto unit will make compounds at an existing Hexpol plant in Foshan, near Guangzhou. Hexpol bought the Elasto business from London-based British Vita plc in April 2010.

“Elasto have supplied customers in Asia for a number of years, initially to [European] transplants and increasingly to locally owned molders,” Elasto managing director Per Hellberg said in a news release.

Elasto currently has plants in Amal Sweden, and Manchester, England.

TPE production in China will begin in the second half of 2012. The company plans to invest in twin-screw extrusion equipment and auxiliaries, plus laboratory facilities.

Elasto will make Dryflex-brand compounds, used in household, automotive, construction, toy, telecommunication and caps and closures applications.

From Plastics News (A Crain publication)