Japan Zhongyuan chemical company recently announced that it is raising the production capacity of polyethylene and polypropylene foam in Europe.
The company will invest € 15 million in the expansion of the Westeros plant in Belgium and will increase the production capacity of Eperan and Eperan-PP products.
The new production plant is scheduled to be fully operational by early 2019.
Zhongyuan Chemical said the expansion in Europe, in line with the earlier announced investment in Thailand and the investment in existing factories in Japan, China and Malaysia, will help the company strengthen its global supply structure.
Zhongyuan Chemical announced in August last year that it will set up a new plant for polyolefin foam production in Rayong, Thailand.
The Thailand plant, with an annual capacity of 3,000 tonnes, serves Southeast Asia and India and is scheduled to start operation by September 2018.
Director Pierre Van Ravestyn explains: 'We expect that Eperan will continue to enter new markets in the coming years as demand in Europe and the rest of the world will increase.'
According to Zhongyuan Chemical, Eperan and Eperan-PP products are characterized by 'excellent' shock absorption, structural strength, chemical resistance and formability.