Istanbul — Materials and composite supplier Metyx Composites is investing $12.6 million to set up a new technical textiles manufacturing facility in North Carolina, the company announced March 21.
Metyx USA Technical Textiles Division said it had acquired a former manufacturing plant in Ranlo, N.C., for $3.5 million and planned to upgrade the existing facility.
Production is expected to start by the fourth quarter of 2018.
Metyx Compsites is a unit of Istanbul-based Telateks AS. The Turkish company plans to make its investment over a five-year period to develop production and customer service capabilities in the United States.
The unit will initially focus on setting up technical textiles production lines for manufacturing a range of glass and carbon fabrics, along with sales, customer service and warehousing facilities to serve the North American composites market.
In the next phase, and based on customer needs, fabric, core and vacuum consumable kit cutting capabilities will be added in the future, Metyx added.
The company is primarily looking to establish business with U.S. and Canadian OEMs and Tier 1 converters in the wind energy generation, marine, road and rail transportation and industrial sectors.
Metyx managing partner, Ugur Üstünel said the group had been interested in the North American market “for several years,” and believed it was the right time to bring its products to the market.
“The U.S. is a very attractive market, being the biggest globally in several key industry sectors with good future growth prospects,” Üstünel said.
Üstünel will head Metyx USA working alongside newly appointed advisory board team members Christian Kissinger, Evren Aykol and Stefan Kanburoglu.