Spanish pipe manufacturer Molecor (Getafe; www.molecor.com) said it has raised its minority holding in the Kuantan, Malaysia, joint venture Molecor SEA to 75%. The remaining 25% of Molecor SEA remains with local partner Sanlens.

The Spanish company also has its sights set on expansion into Southeast Europe. A plant in Bulgaria has been planned, marketing director Almudena Blazquez told Plasteurope.com at the K 2022 (www.k-online.de) plastics trade fair in Düsseldorf, Germany. Even though the search for the home of the facility is still underway, start-up is already planned for next year.

Related: Spanish private equity firm takes majority stake in Molecor

Molecor expanded in its home market last year with the acquisition of Adequa plants (see Plasteurope.com of 12.10.2021). As a result, the company now has five production sites there and is represented internationally with manufacturing facilities in Malaysia, South Africa, and Paraguay. This leaves North America as the only blank spot in terms of major world regions. “We are still working on that,” Blazquez said, noting that the region presents a difficult market given the current conditions and regulations.