German high-tech plastics company Covestro (Leverkusen; www.covestro.com) has launched a new manufacturing line for PC films in Map Ta Phut / Thailand, to meet rising demand in Asia. Sucheta Govil, Covestro’s chief commercial officer, said the company is investing in future growth in Asia-Pacific markets as well as responding to the region’s rapidly growing appetite for speciality films and supporting the expansion of promising technologies and industries. The films are mainly used in the automotive, telecommunications, medical technology and ID document sectors.

“The new production line is important to us because it enables faster market launches and at the same time expands our market access in Asia-Pacific,” said Thorsten Dreier, global head of speciality films. “Our most important goal is to intensify our cooperation with customers in the region and to increase our efficiency. We intend to drive growth in the plastic film business with innovations and a stronger customer focus.”

The project is the first step in Covestro’s global expansion of plastic films capacity. The next milestone is an increase in polycarbonate film production in Dormagen / Germany, where the company is currently adding new coextrusion capacities, with completion due by the end of 2020 (see Plasteurope.com of 07.05.2019). Covestro has already converted a coextrusion film plant in Guangzhou, Guangdong / China and implemented efficiency and product quality improvements in South Deerfield, Massachusetts / USA.