RTP (Winona, Minnesota / USA; www.rtcompany.com) recently opened a new facility in Ladenburg / Germany to produce speciality compounds for conductive TPEs and long fibre thermoplastics (LFT). John Onken, chief of staff, told Plasteurope.com at "K 2010" that the company will initially operate four extrusion lines at the 5,600 m² facility. Continuous production is scheduled to start towards the end of the first quarter of 2011. In the longer run, the plan is to operate eight compounding lines at the site. Onken explained that the facility positions the company closer to major customers in Germany. Similarly, it is more conveniently located for the central and eastern European markets than the facility in Beaune / France that opened in 2005.

RTP is a family-owned supplier of custom-engineered TPEs and speciality compounds. Including Ladenburg, it operates production facilities at 11 sites around the world: six in the US, plus Beaune / France, Suzhou / China, Singapore and Monterrey / Mexico. The company does not publish details of capacity or sales.