High-performance polymers manufacturer Victrex (Thornton Cleveleys / UK; www.victrex.com) has invested around GBP 10m (EUR 11.2m) in a "Polymer Innovation Centre". The newly-opened space, which is located at the company's UK headquarters, will provide research and development focused on "Victrex PEEK" polymer and other differentiated grades within the PAEK family of high-performance thermoplastics.

"We continue to expand our PAEK-based portfolio, services and technologies into new markets and new applications," said CEO Jakob Sigurdsson, who has been heading the company since September (see Plasteurope.com of 13.09.2017). "This new facility is another important step for us, particularly as we anticipate around 10-20% of our overall sales will come from new differentiated PAEK polymer grades and our mega-programmes in the medium term."

Demand for PAEK materials is steadily rising due to various industrial megatrends from sectors such as automotive engineering, aviation, electronics and energy. PEEK is the most frequently used high-performance material from the PAEK family with a share of 80%.

In recent months, Victrex has made a number of acquisitions and set up joint ventures as it drives diversification. Earlier this year, the company bought Zyex (Stonehouse / UK; www.zyex.com), a manufacturer of PEEK fibres – see Plasteurope.com of 10.04.2017.

In February 2017, the company announced a joint venture for PAEK composites with the US high-performance plastics processor Tri-Mack Plastics Manufacturing (Bristol, Rhode Island; www.trimack.com) – see Plasteurope.com of 23.02.2017. It had also acquired a minority interest in the underwater pipe manufacturer Magma Global (Portsmouth / UK; www.magmaglobal.com) a few months earlier.