Röhm (Darmstadt / Germany; www.roehm.com) is making a double-digit million Euro investment in the further expansion of its PMMA moulding compounds production. Only two months ago, the company had announced that it would expand the output at the German site in Worms (see Plasteurope.com of 12.11.2021). Now, it also plans additional capacities for its “Plexiglas” brand products in the Chinese metropolis of Shanghai.

Röhm did not provide any information on the extent of the planned new capacities, which are to be available from the second quarter of 2023. COO Hans-Peter Hauck only mentioned a “significant expansion of global capacities”. Benjamin Ling, who heads the Asian activities, disclosed a bit more: he acknowledged that the expansion is meant to not only meet the growing demand from existing customers, but also to open up new additional business. The target market is, above all, the automotive industry, which is strongly represented in the greater Shanghai area.

According to Plasteurope.com’s Polyglobe database (www.polyglobe.net), Röhm already operates plants with a capacity of 112,000 t/y of MMA and 40,000 t/y of PMMA moulding compounds at the Shanghai site. Last year, the company also opened a technology centre there (see Plasteurope.com of 12.08.2021). Röhm’s global production network comprises 15 locations with 3,500 employees.

Almost everywhere, Röhm sells its PMMA products under the “Plexiglas” and “Pleximid” brands – only in North America are they sold under the trade names “Acrylite” and “Acrymid”. The transparent, light and weather-resistant materials are used not only in the automotive sector but also in the construction, lighting and household appliance sectors.