Mexico City — Geon Performance Solutions LLC has completed a $1.3 million increase in compounding capacity of its plant in Ramos Arizpe, Mexico.
"The [Geon] Mexico team has already completed the expansion and the new facility is ready for great new opportunities," Grace Liu, marketing director for the Westlake, Ohio-headquartered company, told Plastics News March 14.
The work adds a production line and upgrades existing resources for polyolefin compound manufacturing, the company said in a March 11 news release.
The expansion adds more than 120 million pounds of capacity to the market annually, Geon said. The 20,000-square-foot Ramos Arizpe plant opened in 2003 and now has an annual capacity of 55,000 metric tons a year, Liu said.
"Our investment in Ramos Arizpe was precipitated by our commitment to our customers," said CEO Tracy Garrison in a news release. "We anticipate strong growth in the central Mexico region and the addition of this manufacturing capacity should establish Geon as a partner that offers reduced-cost solutions and geographical convenience."
Liu said the Ramos Arizpe operation is benefiting from the nearshoring trend in Mexico.
Geon operates a dozen manufacturing facilities, including the one in Ramos Arizpe, another in Dongguan, China, two in Canada and the rest in the United States.
It makes rigid and flexible PVC and PVC alloy, chlorinated PVC (CPVC), thermoplastic elastomers and polypropylene.
It supplies the wire and cable markets, building and construction, automotive, transportation, appliances, health care, and electric and electronics sectors.
Its product brands include Geon Rigid, Geon Lite and Geon Fiberloc Composites.
Geon completed the acquisition of Chinese company Polymax TPE, of Nantong, Jiangsu, in December, "which expanded our portfolio to add thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) technology," said Chief Commercial Officer Wendy Herbst in the release.
"We are excited now to announce the capacity expansion in Ramos Arizpe. Both are key components of our strategy to expand our solution offerings geographically and within our markets," Herbst added.
New York-based private investment firm SK Capital Partners LP owns Geon. It will be at Booth S31170 at NPE2024.