Finnish pipe manufacturer Uponor (Vantaa; www.uponor.com) is planning to add 1,600 m² of manufacturing space top its North American subsidiary in Apple Valley, Minnesota by the end of this year. The investment will raise the group’s capital expenditure by EUR 12m, the company said. Uponor said the latest upgrade will be the fifth expansion for the plant, first commissioned in 1990, and will see manufacturing capacity rise by 15%. Aside from production, the site is also home to Uponor’s North American offices as well as “Uponor Academy”, its on-site training centre.

Capacity at the Apple Valley facility has been raised successively over the past few years, Uponor said, as the company installs equipment idled from its previous operations in Canada, which was closed in late 2008 (see Plasteurope.com of 25.11.2008). These upgrades do not suffice, however, the company said to meet the widely expected demand-growth for cross-linked polyethylene (PEX) pipe, used in plumbing, fire sprinkler and radiant heating and cooling systems, among others. Explaining the rationale behind the decision to upgrade the site, group CEO Jyri Luomakoski said, “Now that the US residential building market is recovering, we expect demand to pick up further in step with reviving residential demand.”