JER Envirotech International Corp. has purchased from its Asian partner the remaining 49 percent stake in its Malaysian sheet extrusion business, which JER will relocate to a site in Greenville, S.C.
JER officials are negotiating lease space in Greenville.
The Vancouver, British Columbia-based compounder and sheet extruder of wood and natural-fiber composites had been operating a joint venture with Kuala Lumpur-based Asia Pacific Microspheres Sdn. Bhd.
The joint venture no longer exists, said Edward Trueman, JER president and chief executive officer, in a telephone interview.
``We made the determination that we can continue our rapid growth far more effectively by base loading and growing out our home market,'' Trueman said.
The company is going to use Greenville as its support hub for the eastern U.S., he said.
``Strategically, what we've done is pretty clear,'' he said. ``We are supporting Asia from Vancouver because we have installed manufacturing here. We will support east of the Mississippi from the southeast U.S. That is our platform, a springboard if you will, for Europe.''
The publicly traded company comprises two business units — a specialty compounding operation, which uses several biofibers as filler elements, and an extruded panel board operation.
JER extrudes composite sheeting using a variety of plastics ``from olefins to styrenics'' to higher-grade engineering resins, Trueman said.
The company has entered a new partnership with Salisbury, N.C.-based Promats Athletics LLC, which manufactures safety products for sporting venues. Promats is now selling JERsport sheeting as ``a nontoxic, high-strength, dimensionally stable, and, most importantly, recyclable product for their sports safety applications,'' according to a JER news release.
Trueman said there is a lot of market potential for the sheeting product in sports applications.
``It's a whole new portfolio of green product,'' he said.
The panels can be used anywhere wood is exposed to the elements and might need to be replaced in short order, Trueman said.
``We have a competitive advantage over mineral-filled composites,'' he said. ``We have the ability to custom formulate and deliver on physical and mechanical properties and reduce hydrocarbon content.''