During the next four months, Lehmann & Voss (LuV, Hamburg / Germany; www.lehvoss.de) is planning to install three additional compounding lines at sites in Germany, China and the US. This is projected to increase capacities for its "Luvocom" high-performance and high-temperature compounds.

"Additional extensive investments in the expansion of our plastics business are currently the subject of detailed planning and are set to follow shortly," said Thomas Oehmichen, managing partner of the distribution and compounding group. The Hamburg-based company will spend a double-digit million euro sum on the expansion projects.

The first of the announced production lines is scheduled to go onstream in Hamburg before the end of October 2018. The other two will be operated by US subsidiary Performance Compounding (Pawcatuck, Connecticut; www.lehvoss.us/en/products/contract-compounding), which was acquired in 2014, and Lehvoss New Material (Kunshan, Jiangsu / China), which opened in 2016 – see Plasteurope.com of 13.12.2016.

Plans also include the construction of the new laboratory and innovation centre in Hamburg, with a lab for 3D printing technologies. The EUR 4.5m project is expected to be completed by the end of 2018, and expand the company’s position in the market for compounds, masterbatches and composites, among others.

In 2017, the LuV group had a workforce of just under 600 and posted sales of EUR 365m (without affiliated companies).