US composites producer Hexcel has announced plans to build a new €20 million production facility in Morocco to support growing demand for engineered core materials.

The new capacity is planned to go on stream in 2017 at the MidParc Free Trade Zone (FTZ) industrial park, near Casablanca, located close to customers such as Safran, Airbus and the Boeing-Safran joint venture Matis, along with Bombardier.

The US company currently produces the honeycombed core engineered materials at Pottsville, Pennsylvania, and Burlington, Washington, as well as at its European center of competence in Welkenraedt, Belgium.

Hexcel announced earlier this month that it had acquired the remaining half of Formax UK, a manufacturer of composite reinforcements, to expand its presence in aerospace and industrial markets.