Specialty chemicals firm Evonik plans to exit the polyphthalamide (PPA) business at its Witten, Germany production facility as the company’s polyamide unit narrows its focus on high-performance materials. 

“Reorganizing our polyamide business will concentrate our production and innovative strengths on specialty materials for promising applications in attractive markets such as lightweight construction, additive manufacturing, and composites. This, in turn, will give us a solid foundation for continuous growth,” the leader of Evonik’s High Performance Polymers Business Line, Dr. Ralf Düssel, said in a May 9 press release announcing the changes. 

Construction is currently underway on a new €400 million (about $449 million) polyamide 12 (PA 12) production facility at the firm’s complex in Marl, Germany that will boost the firm’s capacity for PA 12 by 50%. Work on the new facility is slated for completion in 2021. Evonik is also investing in an expansion project at its Marl complex that will double its overall capacity for transparent polyamides. 

Production and sales of PPA at the Witten plant will come to a halt in the first quarter of next year. Workers involved in PPA production at Witten will be transferred to the new PA 12 plant in Marl.

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