Nouryon to set up microsphere facility in US

Chemical firm Nouryon has selected Green Bay, Wisconsin, US, as the location for a new facility to produce its Expancel expandable microspheres. The expansion project, which was announced last year strengthens the company’s position in expandable microspheres, which are used to make customers’ end products lighter and reduce costs, it adds.

Read: Nouryon to increase microsphere capacity in China

“This new plant will meet the fast-growing demand for Expancel. We are excited to better serve our customers throughout the Americas as well as other parts of the world,” said Sylvia Winkel Pettersson, Vice President for Expancel at Nouryon. “The first step will be the start of initial production in Green Bay in October 2020; this will be followed by further increases over the next several years,” she said.

Expandable microspheres are used by customers as a lightweight filler and blowing agent to make end products lighter and obtain different surface effects. They also reduce costs and environmental impacts by requiring less raw material. Key end-use markets include the automotive, construction, packaging and mining industries.

“The ability to create lightweight products with Expancel, such as polymer parts and coatings, presents tremendous growth opportunities as customers drive to implement improved sustainable solutions,” said Johan Landfors, President of Technology Solutions at Nouryon. “This investment complements our production sites in Sweden, Brazil and China and ensures that our customers worldwide can rely on us to support the growth of their business.”