In reaction to growing demand, US chemical producer Celanese plans to add a new 15,000 t/y production line for its ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMW-PE) at the company’s integrated chemical complex in Nanjing, China, up to 2019.

Chief Operating Office Scott Sutton said the expansion for the PE specialty sold under the GUR trademark will enable the Dallas, Texas-based company to continue to support a growing and diverse customer base and respond to the increasing need for specialty materials such as UHMW-PE.

The new line will support the “significant growth” in the engineered materials business, specifically the electric vehicle market, Sutton added.

Along with demand for GUR in sheet, profile and filters, Celanese said it is seeing market growth for GUR in lithium ion battery separators used in electric vehicle applications.  Here, the company points to growth rates of 20-30% annually. Most its customer base for the polymer are located in China, it said.