Design and permitting activities will start during the second half of 2022, while construction is scheduled to take place next year. The new plant will use some equipment from Polynt’s trimellitates plant in Changzhou, China, which closed in 2021. Mechanical completion is anticipated by the end of 2023, with start-up scheduled for the first quarter of 2024.

Polynt explained that because of their superior technical performance in electrical and high-temperature applications, high-performance plasticizers are a major component for the electrification of cars and transportation, with trimellitates being the most effective product family for satisfying those particular performance properties.

In separate news, the Bergamo-based firm said it has also decided to expand capacity for coating resins in North America. The expansion will be fully effective by 2023 to meet the growing needs of the region’s paint and coatings industry with alkyd, polyester, copolymer, emulsion and urethane resin technologies. The company did not disclose any other details on the project.

Polynt – formerly Polynt-Reichhold – is owned by UK private equity group Black Diamond Capital Management, which took over as controlling shareholder in July 2021.

Author: Elaine Burridge, Freelance Journalist