Materials firm Radici Group is investing more than $40 million in global expansions of its High Performance Polymers business.
In a March 31 news release, officials with Radici in Bergamo, Italy, said that the expansions will allow for business growth, sustainability and innovation. High performance materials made by Radici include several grades of nylon as well as polybutylene terephthalate, acetal, thermoplastic elastomers and other specialty resins and compounds.
"The high performance polymers business is highly strategic to our group," Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Maurizio Radici said in the release. "We have decided to strengthen our presence … by setting up new and more technologically advanced manufacturing facilities, so as to increase our overall production capacity and efficiency level worldwide."
Radici has increased production capacity by almost 45 million pounds per year at North American production sites in Wadsworth, Ohio, and Ocotlan, Mexico. In Mexico, a new structure covering more than 60,000 square feet has been opened.
In Suzhou, China, Radici has started work on a new plant covering more than 75,000 square feet. That project will increase production capacity there by almost 70 million pounds per year. The investment of almost $25 million was made with expectations for strong growth in Asia, officials said.
In Europe, Radici is adding almost 35 million pounds of annual production capacity in Luneburg, Germany. Officials said the project complements enhancements made at the Radici Novacips plant in Chignola d'Isola, Italy, in the last two years. Europe remains one of Radici's core markets, especially for the automotive, electrical/electronics and consumer goods sectors, officials said.
The recent establishment of Radici InNova, the consortium that pools Radici's research and innovation work in its different units with a sustainability strategy, has allowed the high performance polymers business to strengthen its own research and development center, officials added. This was done with the aim of studying innovative, more circularity-oriented materials and application solutions for markets and supply chains that are demanding lower environmental impact products, they said.
"Our aim is to be proactive for all our customers, to be their strategic partner and develop innovative and sustainable solutions for the future by working together," Maurizio Radici said.
Radici's high performance polymers unit posted sales of around $460 million in 2019, primarily in automotive, electrical/ electronics, water management, consumer goods and industrial.