UBE,a leading global supplier of polyamides, headquartered in Tokyo (Japan), announced that the investment in the expansion of the Nylon plant of its subsidiary – UBE Corporation Europe S. A. u. (UCE), in Castellón (Spain), is going to be completed in June 2018. According to Frank Hormann, President of UBE North America Inc., with the expansion, UCE’s production capacity of diverse Nylons including copolymers and terpolymers, medium to high viscosity, increased from 32,000 tones/year achieving a total volume of 72,000 tones/year in 2018.
Amongst others, the products will be used for technical applications, for example, in the food packaging and automotive sectors, as well as for manufacturing monofilaments and technical components. “Since UBE increased its presence in the Nylon market for packaging, we need to guarantee that the supply for the North American market is regular. This is part of UBE´s service: to supply Nylon for customer’s right on time, keeping the quality that just an expert can offer”, points Hormann.
To guarantee this supply to North American market, UBE counts with six warehouses in the US, strategically located in Georgia, Michigan, Ohio, Ontario, Texas and Wisconsin. With an even more experienced team of more than 10 years of seniority in the company in average reinforcing North America since 2016, the company has not only expanded business with existing customers but also conquered many new clients and markets. Today, UBE´s Nylon is being used by the top five US film converters.
Frank Hormann is also proud to announce that in 2017, UBE´s sales in the region increased by more than 30% compared to the previous year thanks to the newly established Atlantic Operation Unit reinforcing the cooperation between the Americas (North, Central and South) and the EMEA-region (Europe, Middle East & Africa), which is headed by Jeronimo Porras, Vice President of UBE Corporation Europe & President of UBE Europe GmbH. “We are proud of the recognition by the North American market of the quality and performance of UBE´s nylon, especially for flexible packaging”, adds the President.
A completely separate division in the field of compound manufacturing was also built in Castellón and started producing in August 2017. The new investment is dedicated for compounding UBE Nylon and UBESTA for extrusion and blow moulding, based on UBE’s polyamide 12, polyamide 6 and copolyamide base resin. It will bring benefit to the UBE portfolio, in this case for markets such as Automotive and Agrochemical Bottles, which need special additives.
About UBE
Founded in the city of Ube, in Yamaguchi, Japan, in 1897, UBE has 11,000 employees all over the world and registered a turnover of US$ 5.2 billion in 2016. The company´s global portfolio is divided in: chemicals & plastics 42%; cement and construction materials 37%; machinery 11%; environment and energy 9%; and pharmaceuticals 1%.
UBE counts with 03 nylon plants – Japan, Thailand and Spain – that supply the global market. Each site has its own Research & Development Center. The North American office is responsible for USA, Canada and Mexican markets.