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Sweden’s Polykemi Group AB has started up its first own compounding plant in the United States. The $12-million investment in the 50,000 f² plant (expandable to 100,000 ft²) in Gastonia, N.C., is the largest single investment in the company’s history, and it lays the ground for ’s further growth in North America.

A family-owned compounder of a broad range of thermoplastic compounds with a strong presence in Europe and Asia, Polykemi began offering its products in North America in 2013 through a cooperative partnership with compounder Omni Plastics, Evansville, Ind.

Polykemi’s broad portfolio of custom compounds includes nearly every thermoplastic with the exception of PVC. These range from PP, TPO, ABS, SAN, PC, PBT, and associated blends to nylons 6/66, PPA, POM, and PMMA. Among well-known compounds are Scancomp PP HC, a family of PP-based compounds that combine high crystallinity with state-of-the-art glass fiber reinforcements and coupling agents which are targeted to replace 30% glass-reinforced nylon 6 and PBT, and Scancomp PP HBK, a high-gloss, UV-stabilized family of PP compounds which are targeted to replace ABS.

The newly-launched operation will initially produce 14.4 million lb/yr on two twin-extrusion lines (92 mm and 75 mm, respectively).