Polymer-Chemie: Expanded compounding activities - Polymer Group aims for the 200,000 tonnes mark

The Polymer Group continues to expand its role in the European compounding market. Based on an expected compounding volume of 180,000 tonnes in 2008, it now plans to reach the 200,000 tonnes mark in 2009 for the first time in its history. Reflected in this output are the joint efforts of the parent company, Polymer-Chemie (www.polymer-chemie.de), and its subsidiaries TechnoCompound and Sun Alloys Europe, which together with the third subsidiary, Polymer-Tec Halbzeuge, employ about 500 people at the Bad Sobernheim headquarters site. Here the group now intends to erect a new Logistics Centre, to be operational in the beginning of 2009, comprising a 10,000 m² high-bay rack storage facility to cope with the disproportionate growth of its bag, octabin and big bag business, on top of silo product sales.

The compounding activities of the Polymer Group are structured into contract compounding and the production of proprietary compounds. Contract work accounts for roughly one-third of the overall output. This activity comprises the TPE compounds made by Sun Alloys Europe, a joint-venture enterprise, in addition to the polyolefins contract-compounded by Polymer-Chemie itself. The bulk of the group´s own products continues to be PVC compounds, at close to 80,000 tonnes/a. In this market, its founding segment, Polymer-Chemie has also recorded the highest growth rates over the last three years. Addressing the particularly high uptrend in demand for PVC compounds in Eastern Europe and the CIS states, the Polymer Group is set to start up a new production plant – its first outside Bad Sobernheim – at Tula/Russia (170 km south of Moscow) in late 2008.

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The group´s subsidiary TechnoCompound (www.technocompound.com), a manufacturer of engineering plastic compounds based on PP, PA, PBT and PET, has likewise been able to achieve strong growth in recent years. The launch in 2006 of its new product segment of long glass fibre reinforced plastics has contributed markedly to this success.

Polymer-Tec Halbzeuge produces polyolefin-based foams for sound and heat insulating applications.

Polymer-Chemie GmbH, Bad Sobernheim, Germany

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