Japan’s Zeon Corp (Tokyo; www.zeon.co.jp) is expanding its production of cyclo-olefin polymers (COPs) at its site in Mizushima / Japan from 31,000 t/y to 37,000 t/y. The additional capacity is scheduled to come onstream in April 2016. Zeon markets the COPs, which are high-transparency thermoplastic resins, as "Zeonex” and “Zeonor”.

The company said it is expanding production in response to growing demand for COPs in applications including printers, LCD televisions, smartphones, digital cameras and medical inspection equipment. The decision to expand is also due to the prospective business development of a new material, it added.