Borealis Group (Vienna, Austria; www.borealisgroup.com) and Borouge have announced that Borealis’ new compounding plant in Taylorsville, North Carolina, has come on stream as planned, with the inauguration of the facility scheduled for 16 May 2019. With dedicated production lines for thermoplastic olefin (TPO) and short glass fibre (SGF) reinforced compounds, the plant is ideally located to meet the growing needs of original equipment manufacturers (OEM) and Tier 1 customers in the region for advanced polypropylene (PP) solutions, while adding another 30,000 metric tons (m.t.) to Borealis and Borouge’s global PP compounding capacity. The 50,000 square foot facility, with rail siding in place, offers further expansion possibilities to meet the growing demand of customers.
“With the commercial and product development personnel well out of the starting blocks, our North American automotive team is set to drive the further growth of our automotive business in North America,” says Lucrèce Foufopolous, Executive Vice President Polyolefins and Innovation & Technology, Borealis. “Following the plant’s mechanical completion in December, first samples were shipped in February, and several projects with leading North American and European OEMs have already been secured.”
The new plant is an important addition to the global network of Borealis and Borouge’s established compounding plants in Europe, China and Brazil. Among the first products manufactured at the plant are automotive interior and exterior materials approved and listed by major automotive customers, including Daimler and Volkswagen Group.