In the run-up to the demerger of DowDuPont between April and June of this year, the future ”new DuPont”  has announced plans to spend $220 million on expanding  capacity for its polyimide (PI) film and flexible circuit materials, sold under the respective trademarks of Kapton and Pyralux.

The expanded capacity – which is not being quantified – is expected to go on stream at the company’s Circleville site in the US state of Ohio by 2021.                     

DuPont said the expansion is in response to growing customer demand for its “advanced high-quality material” used by the automotive, consumer electronics, telecommunications and defense sectors for innovations in such fields as 5G, automotive, flexible displays and artificial intelligence (AI).

Jim Fahey, head of the DuPont Electronics & Imaging business line, currently part of DowDuPont’s Specialty Chemicals division, said the company is also in the process of upgrading infrastructure and adding personnel at its Hsinchu site in Taiwan.

After completing a previously announced 20% increase in global PI film output earlier this quarter, Fahey said plans are to add “significantly more” capacity over the next several years.