Mitsubishi Chemical (Tokyo / Japan; www.m-kagaku.co.jp) has acquired all shares of US-based PVC compounder Comtrex (Warren, Michigan; www.comtrexllc.com) for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition, the company said, reflects mid-term management plans of Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Group (Tokyo) to enhance its presence in the performance polymers market in Asia, North America and Europe. The US company said it will “gain a more global presence” as a division of Mitsubishi Chemical Performance Polymers, a US company based at Greer, South Carolina.

Comtrex has been engaged in PVC compounding for more than 30 years and in response to customer demand developed a line of vulcanised thermoplastic elastomers (TPV), which it began marketing in 2002. The product line has seen strong growth in recent years, the company said.

In recent years, Mitsubishi has expanded its business with thermoplastic elastomers, cross-linked polymers, adhesive polymers and conductive polymers for key markets in the automotive, medical, food and building industries. In November 2011 it took over all assets of its joint venture with A. Schulman (Akron, Ohio / USA; www.aschulman.com) at Bellevue, Ohio / USA – see Plasteurope.com of 21.08.2012. In March, Tessenderlo Group (Brussels / Belgium; www.tessenderlo.com) said it would sell its remaining compounding activities for TPE and PVC, which trade as CTS (www.cts-compound.com), to Mitsubishi – see Plasteurope.com of 04.03.2013.