ULSAN, SOUTH KOREA — South Korean additives maker Songwon Industrial Co. Ltd. is setting up a 7,000 metric ton per year plant in Houston in April to make its one-pack systems for combining various additives in a dust-free pellet, the company said in a March 25 statement.
"The North American polymer industry is rebounding strongly with the advent of shale gas-oil and lower energy costs," Doug Excell, vice president of OPS operations for Songwon. "A few years ago the discussion was about rationalization in the North America polyolefin industry and now the discussion is about expansion."
The Houston factory is part of a global expansion of OPS capabilities for the Ulsan, Korea-based firm, although the company has had trouble starting several ventures it had planned for India and China.
Songwon last year doubled capacity of the OPS facility it acquired in Germany with the purchase of Additive Technology Greitz, and plans to set up another 7,000 metric ton per year OPS plant in Kizad, Abu Dhabi, in early 2014. That last facility is a joint venture with Polysys Industries of Adu Dhabi.