DAK Americas (Charlotte, NC) has established a Specialty Polymers Business Unit built on the purchase of DuPont’s Crystar polyester resin technology, which is used to manufacture polyester monofilaments, nonwovens, packaging, and other engineered products. Tom Sherlock, DAK Americas business director for resins, told MPW his company will develop a new trade name for the material, with DAK’s initial focus being “to provide continuity to the current customer base and to then expand the business and develop new polymers and applications.” Sherlock said initial capacity for material is approximately 25 million lb and will be spread among DAK sites in the Americas, which include the Cape Fear, near Wilmington, NC; Cedar Creek in Fayetteville, NC; Cooper River near Charleston, SC; Cosoleacaque in Veracruz, Mexico; and Zarate, Argentina.

DuPont describes Crystar’s manufacturing process as a flexible one that allows the introduction of comonomers and additives to customize resin properties like melt point, intrinsic viscosity, color, and diethylene glycol levels. Crystar, which is called a 2GT polyester since two glycol groups used to create it, is available in clear or white. A wholly owned subsidiary of Alfa S.A.B. de C.V. (Monterrey, Mexico), DAK supplies polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resins, polyester staple fibers, and polyester monomers like terephthalic acid. —[email protected]