Following its decision last year to raise EVOH output at its plant in Antwerp / Belgium (see Plasteurope.com of 11.02.2015), Kuraray (Tokyo / Japan; www.kuraray.co.jp) in May announced an 11,000 t/y capacity increase for the material, which it sells under the “Eval” trademark, at its facility in Pasadena, Texas / USA. The expansion, financial details of which were not disclosed, is due to be brought on stream in mid-2018 and will lift the site’s overall capacity to 58,000 t/y.

When announcing the upgrade, Kuraray also confirmed that the additional 11,000 t/y due to be added in Antwerp will be brought on stream by the end of this year. Once all capacity expansions are successfully commissioned, the company – which also produces EVOH in Okayama / Japan – will have raised its total nominal output from the current 81,000 t/y to 103,000 t/y.

The Japanese group says its Eval resin commands a 65% share of the total global EVOH market. Characterised by what it calls “superior” gas barrier properties, the material is particularly suitable for food packaging applications. Kuraray says demand for the material is rising, not only in the industrialised nations, but increasingly in emerging economies as well, pointing out that this increase necessitates the capacity expansions.

Kuraray’s US subsidiary, Kuraray America, recently inaugurated its new 40,000 t/y PVOH plant in Pasadena (see Plasteurope.com of 17.05.2016). The North American branch employs a total of about 740 workers.