Evonik Reorganizes its Business; Will Exit PPA Market

Specialty chemicals company Evonik, U.S. office in Parsippany, N.J., is reorganizing its business for high-performance polymers within the polyamide group. As part of the reorganization process, Evonik will withdraw entirely from the polyphthalamide (PPA) business at the Witten site, ceasing production there by end of 2020.

As previously reported, the company has plans for a significant production expansion of transparent its Trogamid X nylon compounds at the Marl Chemical Park (Germany). Scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2020, the project will double the capacity of these semi-crystalline transparent nylons, which boast higher chemical and stress-crack resistance than amorphous transparent nylons.

In addition, Evonik has already begun construction of a new nylon 12 facility complex at the Marl facility, which will increase the company’s overall capacity by 50%.  In taking these steps, Evonik is concentrating its activities on high-performance materials for attractive growth markets such as the automotive, oil and gas, 3D printing, and optics industries. Biopolymers complement the product portfolio. Biobased polymers from the Terra series remain in the business portfolio to complement Evonik’s now reorganized range of high-performance polymers.

“As we focus our marketing activities on high-performance polymers, we will be utilizing internal synergies to accommodate our long-serving Witten employees with secure jobs at the new polyamide 12 production facility in Marl, where we will be able to draw upon their decades of proven experience in polymer production and compounding,” says Dr. Iordanis Savvopoulos, Head of the Product Line Granules & Compounds at Evonik.