Japan's Polyplastics Co. Ltd. is expanding its engineering plastics compounding plant in Malaysia, driven by increasing Japanese investment in the region.
The Tokyo-based company said in a Jan. 21 announcement that its Kuantan, Malaysia, facility will get 19.8 million pounds a year of additional capacity for acetal and polyphenylene sulfide resins.
When the expansion is operational in mid-2017, the facility will have 77.1 million pounds of capacity.
“It is anticipated that as Japanese companies continue to be transplanted in the Asia-Pacific region, demand for compound products in the region will rise,” the company said, adding that “the excellent location of the Kuantan plant, where distribution costs can be contained and tariffs on Japanese imports are eliminated, [will] strengthen cost competitiveness.”
It said the facility will also be able to respond to growing demand in Europe and America.
The company said it has annual compounding production capacity of 150,000 metric tonnes at plants in Japan, China and Taiwan.