Celanese to produce Celstran thermoplastic in Brazil

Celanese Corporation will expand its manufacturing capabilities at the company’s Suzano, Brazil, facility to include Celstran long fibre reinforced thermoplastics (LFRT) production. The Celstran expansion is expected to be operational by mid-2015. This new Celstran LFRT production operation will be part of the company's manufacturing site in Suzano where Celanese already compounds Hostaform/Celcon acetal copolymer (POM) and Celanex/Vandar thermoplastic polyester (PBT) products for customers in Brazil and Latin America.
 
“The addition of Celstran manufacturing capabilities to our existing site outside Sao Paulo is part of the Celanese growth strategy to directly serve our customers in Brazil and Latin America, where we see a healthy growth potential, especially in automotive applications,” said Phil McDivitt, Vice President and General Manager of the Engineered Materials Business of Celanese.
                                                  
Celanese long fibre reinforced thermoplastics, including Celstran, Factor and Compel, offer a combination of stiffness and toughness unparalleled by conventional short-fibre reinforced thermoplastics. These products provide customers with outstanding value in meeting the needs of demanding applications that require metal replacement, weight reduction (resulting in lower carbon dioxide emissions), impact strength, design freedom and easy processing in key end-user industries such as automotive, consumer appliances, industrial products and aerospace.
 
"By bringing this new production capacity to Brazil, Celanese will be the first local producer of Celstran LFRT. We will leverage our local commercial and technical teams to deliver innovative polymer solutions to our customers and further support the growth of Celstran in Latin America,” said Stefan Kutta, Celanese Global Director, Automotive Industry.