Solvay increases specialty polymer capacity in India

Solvay (Brussels) is increasing capacity at its Panoli, India plant for the production of its high-performance polymers KetaSpire polyetheretherketone (PEEK) and AvaSpire polyaryletherketones (PAEK) by 70%. Panoli is Solvay's largest plant worldwide for these two resins.

Nearly half of this capacity increase has already been implemented and successfully brought on-line. The second phase of the project will be completed by mid 2013 and will allow the plant to continue to satisfy growth in demand.

KetaSpire PEEK and AvaSpire PAEK, along with their ease of processing, provide substantial value for design engineers according to Solvay. The products are used in a diverse range of applications spanning many industries including aeronautic, automotive (e.g. mechanical components in cars), healthcare (medical equipment and reusable medical devices), electronics, oil & gas exploration and production, and process industries such as semiconductor manufacturing (chip testing and wafer processing).

"Solvay is delighted with the growth of its line of polyketone materials and we are very excited to be adding capacity for this business that we launched just a few years ago," commented Augusto Di Donfrancesco, General Manager of the Global Business Unit Specialty Polymers. "Our focus from the start was to deliver products with consistently high quality and performance and we believe this has been a key driver in the rapid market acceptance of our KetaSpire PEEK resins. With AvaSpire PAEK, we are impressed with how innovative design engineers are capitalizing on the entirely new performance dimensions offered by these materials," added Chris Wilson, VP for the Spire Ultra Polymers business.