Page 47 - Plastics News June 2018

Business news

PolyOne acquires composites Sabic to expand materials R&D

maker PlastiComp in Selkirk, N.Y

aterials firm PolyOne Corp. has kept its acquisitions
Mstreak going by adding composites maker PlastiComp Saudi Basic Industries Corp. is expanding its research
and development operations in Selkirk, N.Y. Work
Inc. for an undisclosed price. It's the second acquisition of on the project will begin later this summer, with
2018 for Avon Lake, Ohio-based PolyOne and the firm's sixth completion expected in mid-2019, spokesperson Shelia
since early 2017. Winona, Minnopolois.-based PlastiComp Naab said. The expansion will include a 10,000-square-
makes long fiber technology-based composites for medical foot warehouse for raw materials storage, 10,000
devices, robots and drones, outdoor equipment and other square feet of office space and 2,500 square feet of
manufacturing space for formulation, blending, and
testing. Sabic, a materials firm based in Riyadh, Saudi
Arabia, with North American headquarters in Houston,
essentially is renovating existing buildings and adding
a warehouse space for raw materials, Naab said. The
firm also is relocating and combining its R&D for LNP-
brand compounds and Noryl-brand polyphenylene ether
resins at the Selkirk site. Some of this work previously
was done at a Sabic site in Exton, Pa. The firm last year
announced that it would be moving this work to Selkirk.

markets."We are very excited to accelerate commercial
and operational investments to further expand this
important composite technology as part of our advanced
composites portfolio," PolyOne Chairman, President and
CEO Robert Patterson said. PlastiComp was founded in
2003 by industry veteran and composites pioneer Stephen
Bowen. The firm employs 50 in Winona, making composites
based on materials ranging from polypropylene to PEEK. The Selkirk site will add 15-20 employees as a result
PlastiComp's long-fiber composites offer high strength of the project, mainly by transferring workers from
and stiffness, design freedom, corrosion and wear Exton. Employees making the move include PhD-level
resistance and recyclability, officials said. "As we looked scientists The expansion also includes adding state-
to take this business and our customers to the next level, of-the art R&D equipment, labs and the raw materials
PolyOne was the natural choice," Bowen added. "PolyOne's warehouse for raw materials at this site, according to
comprehensive approach to design, service and innovation Naab. Sabic is not disclosing the amount it is spending
on the project."Sabic has designated the Americas
in thermoplastics and composites will enable us to forge region as a focus of future growth plans, capitalizing
even further ahead with our [long-fiber] technology." on three key aspects, one being innovation," officials
PlastiComp will become part of PolyOne's Specialty said in a statement. The Selkirk site "plays a key role" in
Engineered Materials unit. PlastiComp most recently innovation due to its global research and development
expanded in early 2017 when it added a new pultrusion center, global color formulation technology, and
line for long-carbon-fiber-reinforced composites. The product offerings, they added. Officials also said
firm began making those specialty materials in 2014 and that the expansion "allows us to expand our technical
now has five production lines for those products. Earlier capabilities in areas of polymer processing, testing, and
this year, PolyOne purchased Spanish color and additive product development so that we can drive innovation
concentrates maker IQAP Masterbatch Group SL. The firm to important U.S. industries as clean energy, medical
spent almost $164 million on its four 2017 acquisitions. devices, and automotive.

47 June 2018 Plastics News