Albis Plastic Corp. recently held a groundbreaking ceremony at the future site of its new compounding plant in Duncan, SC. The plant will manufacture prime engineering compounds, which are sold under the brand names Altech and Alcom.

“We are exactly on track for production start-up in the third quarter of this year, as originally planned,” said Stefan Fuhlendorf, Regional Sales Director, Americas.

Plant capacity will be approximately 15,000 metric tons (33 million pounds). The manufacturing facility will create up to 60 new jobs for the area in the coming year, including staff for the laboratory and warehouse.

The plant is being constructed on land adjacent to Albis Barnet Polymers, a joint venture between Albis and William Barnet & Son, which was founded on September 1, 2016. “The new prime plant as well as the joint venture, which manufactures recycled compounds under the Altech ECO brand name, represent a significant investment in our Americas business and will support both our global key accounts as well as our growing local customer base,” added Fuhlendorf. Both plants will obtain quality certification according to IATF 16949.

Headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, Albis Plastic Corp. offers the plastic processing industry a diverse range of high-performance plastics, compound solutions and masterbatches. The company employs approximately 1,200 people and reported sales in 2015 of €905 million, said Albis’ information. The company produces compounds and masterbatches at six sites in the United Kingdom, Slovakia, China and the United States in addition to Germany.