Eastman Chemical Co. (Kingsport, Tenn.; www.eastman.com) announced multiple projects to increase CHDM (1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol) capacity at its Kingsport, Tennessee, manufacturing facility. The series of debottlenecks and expansion projects will occur over the next 18 months and will increase capacity by 15,000 metric tons (m.t.). All projects are expected to be complete by early 2019.
This series of investments positions Eastman to meet the increasing demand it is seeing for copolyesters, as well as other polyester supported markets, and further demonstrates the company’s commitment to growing with its customers around the world. Eastman’s CHDM is a symmetrical, high molecular weight cycloaliphatic glycol used to make saturated and unsaturated polyester resins
“We are very excited to continue making investments to grow our copolyester business,” said Burt Capel, vice president and general manager of Eastman’s Specialty Plastics business. “Since its launch, we’ve seen tremendous growth in Tritan™ and continued strength across our copolyester product portfolio. This investment, along with the addional PETG capacity we recently announced that is coming online in 2018, further demonstrates our commitment to our entire copolyester business.”
Specialty Plastics is a part of Eastman’s Advanced Materials business segment. CHDM is used in the production of Eastman Tritan, Eastman Spectar, Eastman Eastar and other copolyester materials.