Foster Corp., a major supplier of polymers for medical device manufacturers, has agreed to be an exclusive distributor of Mexican company Resirene SA de CV's styrene-acrylic copolymers for the U.S. and Canadian health care industries.
Located in Tlaxcala, 60 miles southeast of Mexico City, Resirene is Mexico's largest polystyrene supplier. It formed a partnership with Putnam, Conn.-based Foster, the two companies said in a joint news release Oct. 31.
Resirene is exhibiting at Plastimagen 2017.
"Resirene's experience with SMMA materials dates back to the late 90s… mainly in Mexico, and since then we've been gradually expanding our reach into North America and European markets, particularly in the past decade," Moisés Romero, Resirene's market development and business intelligence manager, told Plastics News by email.
He said, however, that medical markets and applications "have not been a main focus" for Resirene "because of the specific knowledge and capabilities required. That's why we are sure this collaboration with Foster will fill the gap nicely."
Resirene CET resins' inclusion in Foster's portfolio "will not just add their offer to the market as straight resins, but also as potentially modified versions by taking advantage of Foster's compounding abilities and deep knowledge of medical fields and needs," Romero added.
"Our current customers and prospects serving the medical segment are always looking for new transparent material options that can help them to meet the performance requirements and regulatory approvals while contributing to cost-savings initiatives," Larry Johnson, Foster's executive vice president, said.
For that reason, he said, Foster was "proud to bring Resirene's CET SMMA into our portfolio of solutions."