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Evonik (Marl, Germany) is reorganizing its high-performance polyamides business, which includes construction of a new polyamide 12 (PA12) facility in Marl, Germany as well as expansion of its transparent polyamides production at the Marl Chemical Park. As part of the reorganization process, Evonik will also withdraw entirely from the polyphthalamide (PPA) business at its Witten site.

Both expansion projects — equaling a total investment of approximately €400 million — are intended to concentrate the company’s activities in high-performance materials for markets such as the automotive, oil and gas, 3D printing and optics industries. These projects will reportedly increase the company’s overall capacity for PA12 by more than 50%. The new PA12 facility is scheduled for completion in the first half of 2021. Evonik’s expansion in production of transparent polyamides in its Marl facility is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2020, said to double the company’s current capacity for transparent polyamides.

“Reorganizing our polyamide business will concentrate our production and innovative strengths on specialty materials for promising applications in attractive markets such as lightweight construction, additive manufacturing, and composites. This, in turn, will give us a solid foundation for continuous growth,” says Dr. Ralf Düssel, head of the high-performance polymers business line at Evonik. “For our customers, the move will mean a more intense focus on developing sophisticated specialty solutions.”

In another step in the process of reorganizing its polyamide business, Evonik will be discontinuing the production and sale of polyphthalamide at its Witten site by the end of the first quarter of 2020. Evonik will transfer employees from the PPA plant to its Marl site, where they will work at the new PA12 production plant.

“As we focus our marketing activities on high-performance polymers, we will be utilizing internal synergies to accommodate our long-serving Witten employees with secure jobs at the new polyamide 12 production facility in Marl, where we will be able to draw upon their decades of proven experience in polymer production and compounding,” says Dr. Iordanis Savvopoulos, head of the product line granules & compounds at Evonik.