With the expansion of its production capacities for PMMA, Röhm has reached an important milestone in the implementation of its growth strategy. Hans-Peter Hauck, COO of Röhm, recently commissioned the polymerization plant for PLEXIGLAS® in Shanghai. “The expansion of our global PMMA capacities is an important step on our way to becoming the leading methacrylate Verbund,” said Hauck. At the end of the year, another PMMA plant will also start production in Worms, Germany.
China is the largest market for MMA and PMMA in the world. Röhm has been supplying the market with PLEXIGLAS® (branded in the Americas as Acrylite®) moulding compounds since the 1990s. Since 2008, the company has been on site with its own plant in Shanghai to serve local customers even faster and more reliably. “Our business has grown steadily,” said Benjamin Ling, Röhm President Asia. Ling added, “As our customers and the Chinese market have grown, so have we, and we have steadily expanded our capacity”.
The basis for success in the Asian market is not only the high-quality PLEXIGLAS® molding compounds, but also customized innovations that Röhm has developed specifically for the Asian market. Examples include PLEXIGLAS® Hi-Gloss for automotive pillar trim and PLEXIGLAS® Resist for electronic displays.
“Our commitment goes far beyond meeting market demands. We work very closely with our customers when it comes to helping their innovations get off the ground,” Ling said. Drivers for PMMA innovations are trends such as electromobility in the automotive sector and growing customer requirements in the lighting industry. Röhm’s newly built innovation center in Shanghai offers the best conditions for customer-oriented developments.
The press release stated that PLEXIGLAS® is well-suited for applications where durability, resistance to weather and UV, colour fastness, high luminosity and transparency as well as hardness and scratch-resistance are key. The brand celebrates its 90th anniversary this year. “We are proud to have invented PLEXIGLAS® and still see ourselves as pioneers supporting industrial customers who want to develop something new,” commented Siamak Djafarian, Senior Vice President Business Unit Moulding Compounds.
