Oxea, part of Oman Oil Group, says it is planning to increase its European capacity for its Oxsoft GPO dioctyl terephthalate (DOTP) by 50,000 metric tons by the end of 2015.
DOTP is a general-purpose plasticizer used in a wide range of applications such as construction, automotive and flooring.
Oxea says it has signed an agreement with a third party in order to establish joint production of DOTP.
“The European market for phthalate-free plasticizers is growing rapidly. As a replacement mainly for dioctyl phthalate and diisononyl phthalate, DOTP is benefiting particularly from this development and our capacities need to be planned correspondingly,” said Oxea's project leader, Christian Boehmer.
Oxea, based in Oberhausen, Germany, 1,400 people worldwide and had annual sales of 1.5 billion euros ($2.06 billion) last year.