Nouryon, a global leader in specialty chemicals, plans to expand the production capacity of its Expancel® brand expandable microspheres in China. The expansion benefited from the relocation of the production base of the product from Suzhou to Ningbo. The relocation project is planned to be completed before the end of 2021. After the relocation, the larger production facilities will increase Expancel's annual production capacity in China by up to 60%, which will further consolidate Nouryon's global leading position in the field of expandable microspheres.
"For more than 40 years, Nouryon has been the global industry leader in the field of expandable microspheres. The production facilities and larger production capacity of Nouryon's Ningbo base will help us meet the needs of the local market," Nouryon Specialty Polymers Vice President Sylvia Winkel Pettersson said, “We expect that this relocation will be seamless and ensure that Nouryon can better serve Chinese customers with high-quality products and services.”
Expancel expandable microspheres are used as lightweight fillers and foaming agents, which can make customers' final products lighter and have excellent thermal insulation properties, thereby reducing costs and environmental impact. For example, Expancel is applied to cool roof coatings that are highly reflective to sunlight, which can reduce the external surface temperature of a building by as much as 15 degrees Celsius, thereby reducing the need for air conditioning. In China, Expancel serves end markets such as construction and infrastructure, transportation and packaging materials.
"Nouryon sees that the market demand for expandable microspheres is growing, and the global sustainable development trend is also one of the driving forces for the development of this market," said Sobers Sethi, senior vice president of China and emerging markets, Nouryon "With the excellent operation of the Ningbo production base and the increase in various resources, we will continue to meet this market demand and accelerate our business growth in China."
Nouryon Ningbo base is one of its largest production bases in the world. It has built and operated six factories for chelating agents, vinylamines, cellulose ethers, surface chemicals, polymer chemicals and organic peroxides. In the future, the Ningbo base and Nouryon’s existing expandable microsphere production bases in the United States, Sweden and Brazil will complement each other.