Specialty chemicals company Evonik's polyamide 12 (PA12) integrated production plant construction project in Marl, Germany is currently progressing smoothly.
With an investment of more than 400 million euros, this project is Evonik's largest single investment in Germany so far. The first factory of the project has been completed in mid-October as planned and is currently undergoing handover procedures. Other factories will be completed in the first quarter of 2021, and the entire project is expected to be completed in the first half of 2021.
Project chief Marcus Von Twistern said: “In the past few months, the project team has continued to perform well under the influence of the new crown epidemic.” Supply chain disruption and restricted access to construction personnel are challenges that must be overcome. Von Twisten specifically pointed out: "We can always find a solution. Therefore, the current construction period of the entire PA12 integrated production unit will not be significantly delayed."
Up to now, the project has successfully completed the construction of the reinforced concrete structure, most of the production units have been delivered and installed, and pipelines and lines are being laid. The future operations team has begun to organize training around the new workflow.
The newly added PA12 and its predecessor device are located in the Marl Chemical Park in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. They will complement the existing PA12 production and increase the group's total PA12 production capacity by more than 50%.
Dr. Claus Retting, Head of Evonik’s Smart Materials Business Unit, said: “PA12 is an important part of our strategic growth in special applications. The new integrated production facility will further consolidate our leading position in this high-performance polymer market. "PA12 can be used in attractive growth markets such as automation engineering, gas pipelines, sports, and 3D printing.