Automotive composites supplier CSP Victall Structural Composites Co. Ltd. is building a second manufacturing plant in Wujin, Jiangsu province, China.
The company announced Jan. 8 it had signed an agreement with Wujin National Hi-Tech Industrial Zone, a business district in the Jiangsu province, to build the roughly 387,500-square-foot facility. The chosen area for the building is near the Yangtze River Delta metropolitan region as well as major automakers such as General Motors Co., Volkswagen AG and Geely.
The facility will manufacture various components for the Chinese auto industry, including battery boxes, pickup boxes and Class A body panels. A groundbreaking ceremony for the facility is scheduled for March, where additional details will be given.
Once the plant is operating at full capacity, the company said it expects to employ as many as 125 people at the facility.
CSP Victall is a 50/50 joint venture between Teijin-owned Continental Structural Plastics Inc. of Auburn Hills, Mich., and Qingdao Victall Railway (Group) Co. Ltd., a Chinese manufacturer of modular products and parts for high-speed trains, intercity trains and other transportation equipment.
“It is important that we are able to manufacture close to where our customers need us,” CSP CEO Steve Rooney said in a statement. “This location in eastern China and the proximity to the Yangtze River Delta allow us to better serve our customers located in and around the Shanghai area.”
The additional capacity will help the company to meet future customer demand, especially as the electric vehicle market in China grows, CSP spokeswoman Kim Zitny said in a Jan. 8 email to Plastics News.
“CSP Victall is working on several EV programs in China, manufacturing battery covers for the high-voltage battery,” she said.
The company is currently in production on the Great Wall Motors Co. Ltd.'s C30 sedan and GAC Group's electric vehicle platform.
“With the growth predicted in this segment, we have developed a proprietary, flame-retardant [sheet molded compound] for battery boxes,” Zitny said. “This is the only flame-retardant SMC available in the market that meets all global fire prevention specifications, including the Chinese ‘bonfire test.'”
Chinese standards require the flame must self-extinguish within two minutes after removal of the flame source, she said.
CSP Victall's first facility is located in Tangshan, Heibei province, and opened in 2015. The approximately 409,000-square-foot facility makes lightweight composite components for the automotive and heavy truck industries in China. The facility also compounds and sells advanced composite raw materials, including SMC.