Radici turns up the heat

Düsseldorf, Germany — Italian materials firm Radici Group unveiled its new Radilon Aestus T polyphthalamide product range at this year's K show in Düsseldorf.

The Bergamo-based firm has used a Latin word for heat, “aestus,” to launch the new product, which it claims has a high melting temperature and high heat distortion temperature under load.

Radici claimed the work is part of its new multigenerational product plan for the development of high-performance materials and has targeted water/plumbing, beverage dispensing equipment and the electrical and electronics sectors as natural target markets for the new product.

Market application development director Erico Spini said: “We see this as a natural replacement for the water sector.”

Radici also confirmed that on Oct. 14 it had concluded an agreement to purchase Invista's Engineering Polymer Solutions unit.

As a result, Radici Group will relocate Invista's Chattanooga business activities to other production plants based in North America, specifically Radici Plastics USA Inc. in Wadsworth, Ohio, and Radici Plastics Mexico S de RL de CV, in Mexico.

Radici has previously stated its growth strategy included acquiring market share in the nylon business.

In addition to nylon, Radici's Performance Plastics business also supplies polybutylene terephthalate, thermoplastic elastomers and acetal. Radici Group, which also produces chemicals, synthetic fibers and nonwovens, generated 1 billion euros of sales in 2015.