Kuraray Co. (Tokyo) has announced a planned increase of its globally in-demand ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer (EVOH resin; Kuraray trademark: EVAL) production capacity in its bases of operation in the United States and Europe. A total of 5,000 metric tons per year (m.t./yr) will be added to the capacity of U.S. and European bases of operation in 2024, with another 5,000 m.t./yr to be added in 2026. This 10,000- m.t./yr total capacity increase will bring total global production capacity from the present 103,000 m.t./yr to 113,000 m.t./yr (10,000 m.t./yr in Japan, 63,000 m.t./yr in the U.S. and 40,000 in Europe).
Subsidiary Kuraray America, Inc. is located in Houston, Tex. EVAL Europe N.V. is headquartered in Antwerp, Belgium. EVAL is frequently used for food packaging due to its gas barrier qualities, which guard against deterioration of the contents.
It is expected that demand for EVAL will rise even further in the future as food packaging shifts to using just one type of material, as required for a circular economy, and as food products become more long-lasting to reduce food waste.