DowDuPont to Invest in Expansion of Specialty Resins and Additives

A series of investments totaling about $100 million over the next two years by DowDupont, Midland, Mich., is aimed at expanding manufacturing capacity and facility modernization at the Sabine River Works (SRW) plant in Orange County, Texas. The plant is to incrementally expand production capacity to support global growth of specialty materials produced at this site; most notably, the Surlyn, Fusabond, Nucrel and Vamac product lines. The company is also evaluating longer term plans to invest in a new facility to further support market growth.

The joint investment will support customer growth of both the Packaging & Specialty Plastics (P&SP) business and the Materials Science division (to be named Dow), as well as the Transportation & Advanced Polymers (T&AP) business of its Specialty Products division (to be named DuPont), The added capacity is expected to come online in several phases starting in 2020 and will enable both divisions to meet growing demand for:  Surlyn ionomers used in applications like high-end cosmetics packaging; Fusabond ethylene copolymers with anhydride functionality used as coupling agents for applications such as PE/wood composites; Nucrel acid copolymers used as tie layers; and, Vamac ethylene acrylic elastomer terpolymers used in high-temperature automotive engine and transmission seals.