Spartech Corp. has increased sheet capacity with two new extrusion lines at its plant in Warsaw, Ind.
Two new equipment lines at the site will increase production of Royalite-brand sheet, as well as for sheet made from recycled PVC, which Spartech sells for storm doors, bathtubs, shower stalls and other products.
The move to expand the Warsaw facility “strategically positions Spartech to seize opportunities in growth markets and ensures the company's future success,” Royalite product manager Eric Lattanner said in an Aug. 10 news release.
Spartech's Royalite sheet is based on ABS and other resins. The Clayton, Mo.-based firm was North America's eighth-largest film and sheet maker in a recent Plastics News ranking, with related sales of almost $1 billion in 2007.
The project will create an unspecified number of new jobs, a company spokeswoman said. No cost estimate for the capacity expansion was available.
In the release, Lattanner also cited Spartech's commitment to producing more environmentally friendly, sustainable products.
“The rigid PVC sheet we produce at this plant is made of recycled content and is recyclable,” he said. “We grind scrap material from our manufacturers and use it in the production of new sheet and rollstock. There isn't a bit of scrap going to a landfill.”
The Warsaw expansion is a bit of a reversal of strategy for Spartech, which closed a sheet plant in Mankato, Minn., in 2008 and also closed part of a sheet plant in Donchery, France, earlier this year. Like many plastics firms, Spartech has struggled with reduced demand for its products and high raw material costs. The firm has eliminated at least 700 jobs since early 2008.
Last month, Spartech announced it had altered its financial obligations to allow it to sell noncore assets — although the firm has given no indication of which businesses it might sell.
Spartech posted a loss of $1.3 million in the first half of its fiscal 2009, which ended May 2.
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