South Africa's largest compounding company, Continental Polymers (Pty) Ltd., has expanded with a new factory to meet what it says is increased demand for engineering polymers.
The Durban-based Continental has opened a new production site in Westmead, KwaZulu-Natal, expanding into polypropylene and nylon compounds, according to a Feb. 29 news release from the Johannesburg-based trade association Plastics|SA.
“We have been manufacturing PVC compounds for various industry segments for the past 12 years,” said Continental CEO George Dimond. “We are very proud to be in the position where we are now able to expand our service offering to our new and existing customers with a new range of engineering polymers that consist of local content.”
The company, which said it has capacity of 30,000 metric tons (66 million pounds) a year, has also invested in improved laboratory facilities.
“We have invested a significant amount of technical innovation and intellectual capital into this highly geared laboratory in order to offer our customers world-class technical service, research development and a continuous supply of top quality compounds,” Dimond said.
It said it can now supply mineral-filled talc, calcium carbonate and glass-fiber reinforced compounds at 20 to 50 percent. Its markets include cable, footwear, automotive, construction and packaging.