Amid rising global demand for high-performance plastic “Apec” (PC-HT), Hi-Bis (Bitterfeld / Germany) has doubled its special bisphenols production capacity at company headquarters to 10,000 t/y. A joint venture between Bayer MaterialScience (BMS, Leverkusen / Germany; www.bayerbms.com) – which holds 10% in the company – and Japan’s Mitsui (Tokyo; www.mitsui.com) and its subsidiary Honshu Chemical Industry (Tokyo; www.honshuchemical.co.jp/en) – with shares of 35% and 55% respectively – Hi-Bis invested about EUR 50m in the expansion, which also created 17 new jobs at the site.

BMS produces Apec in Antwerp / Belgium. Speaking at the ceremony inaugurating the added bisphenols capacity, Rainer Rettig, head of sales for Europe and other regions at BMS, said Apec sales continue to outgrow the entire plastics market, which averages about 5% a year. Its market potential is thus much better than that of conventional PC, which – despite growth rates of 5-6% per year – is characterised by an oversupplied market.

Apec is said to be particularly suitable for articles with demanding requirements that need to withstand high temperatures, including automotive headlights, housings for luminaires or hot nozzles in hair dryers.