Solvay has announced a 25% expansion of capacity for polyaryletherketone resin, the base material for its ultra-high performance KetaSpire (PEEK) and AvaSpir (PAEK) polymers, at Panoli in India's Gujarat state.

The output increase of 1,000 t/y will be achieved through debottlenecking. The additional capacity is expected to be in the market in the third quarter of 2015.

Since commissioning its polyaryletherketone resin operations in India in 2008, Solvay said its Specialty Polymers global business unit, which has "the industry's widest range of high and ultra-high performance polymers," has progressively built up capacity at Panoli.

The Belgian chemical producer said its major research and innovation center at Savli, also in Gujarat, has made "important contributions to innovations that are supporting the site's expansion."

Solvay said KetaSpire and AvaSpire are used in markets growing by at least 8-10% annually and are in strong demand from the aviation and automotive industries as well as healthcare, electronics and energy.

Augusto Di Donfrancesco, president of Solvay Specialty Polymers, said the debottlenecking "shows we are determined to keep pace with this growing demand worldwide and with our customers' creativity in leveraging the features of our innovative materials."