The Japanese chemicals group Asahi Kasei Corporation (Europe: Paepsem Business Park, Boulevard Paepsem 22, B-1070 Brussels: www.asahi-kasei.co.jp/asahi/english) is expanding its activities in the field of engineering plastics. After extending its production capacities for PA and PPE in Asia, the company, through its acquisition of the compounding group Thermofil (Europe: GB-Havant, Hampshire, PO92 NQ; www.thermofil.co.uk), which has production facilities in the UK, France (F-13310 Sainte Martin-De-Crau; www.thermofil.fr) and the USA (Fowlerville, Michigan; www.thermofil.com), is launching an offensive in Europe and North America. Thermofil has compounding capacities for engineering plastics – above all PA, PP-GF and styrene copolymers – totalling 110,000 t/y. Its European market activities are controlled by NV Asahi Thermofil (Europe) S.A., which was established in April with headquarters in Brussels. All the regional group companies will also take on the name Asahi Thermofil from April. In 1999, Asahi took over all ICI´s worldwide PTFE activities (“Fluon”) (see Plasteurope.com 19, 1999).