UBE Engineering Plastics (UEP), part of the UBE group (Tokyo, Japan; www.ube.com), started up its first European plant for production of PA 6, 6/6.6 and 6/6.12 copolymers at Castellón, near Valencia / Spain, in July. The 10,000 t/y unit is designed to accommodate an increase in output to 30,000 t/y over the next several years, guaranteeing faster and more flexible deliveries to European automotive and packaging industry customers. For many years, the Castellón facility has produced PA feedstock caprolactam for UBE´s captive use and for sale to other PA manufacturers, mostly in the textile industry. Starting material for caprolactam comes from a nearby BP plant.

New UBE polyamide plant at Castellón/Spain (Photo: UBE Engineering Plastics)

A range of 30 different PA extrusion grades, 20-30% of which are homopolymers and the remainder copolymers, will be produced at the Spanish site, mainly for high-quality film and filaments for the food and agricultural sectors. Castellón also will produce pipe compounds for the automotive industry. The most important markets for these products are in Europe, with the UK developing into one of the leading customer countries. About 3,000 t/y of Castellón´s output will be exported to the US. A UBE spokesperson told Plasteurope.com that there are plans for further expansion in Europe as a logistics base for supplying automotive customers on the US east coast. However, there are “no plans” to produce PA in Europe, as this would be “unprofitable.”

Bruno de Bievre, COO at UEP (Photo: UBE Engineering Plastics)

The Asian group currently produces PA injection moulding grades for the E&E industry in Thailand and Japan. In addition to Castellón, with storage capacity for 1,500 t, it maintains European storage facilities and logistics centres at Liverpool / UK, Antwerp / Belgium, and Tarragona / Spain, and also has a sales office at Düsseldorf / Germany. Overall, UBE has capacity to produce 100,000 t/y of PA 6 and copolymers and 380,000 t/y of caprolactam. The Japanese producer stresses the importance of the new plant for further consolidation and expansion in Europe. Prices are currently higher in Asia, but soaring raw material prices are expected to push European PA notations significantly higher in the medium term.

• Plasteurope.com Service: UBE Engineering Plastics Company brochure: PIE-No. 46535.