Strategic investment

The construction of a new production line for TROSIFOL polyvinyl butyral (PVB) films is thus about to get underway. What is now the eighth production line will increase capacity in the automotive film sector by 5,000 tonnes per year to a total of 10 million square metres of automotive film by the end of 2013. The sum invested here alone is EUR 17 million. The goal of the planned investment is to respond to growing global demand for PVB films for laminated safety glass in the automotive industry and significantly lift TROSIFOL's market share in this segment. Production capacity at the Nizhny Novgorod site in Russia will be raised concurrently. "The new production line in Troisdorf will be specifically geared to the automotive industry's stringent quality requirements," says Ralf Eschrich, who heads the TROSIFOL Division at Kuraray Europe GmbH. "At the same time, we will be stepping up the number of staff working in research & development and technical service. Our automotive customers can reckon with regular supplies as of the beginning of 2014."

To achieve this massive boost to production, Kuraray is having to expand its raw material base accordingly. To this end, it will be considerably augmenting its capacity for polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), a primary product for PVB, in Frankfurt next year. Kuraray is also planning a new PVA plant in Houston, Texas, USA for 2014. Kuraray is already today's world market leader with PVA.

It is currently investigating further investment in PVB films in Asia. With TROSIFOL, Kuraray is Europe's leading supplier of PVB films for the production of laminated safety glass for architectural applications. Kuraray as a whole and the TROSIFOL division in particular will be pursuing a strong growth strategy in the next few years and intend to bolster production capacity outside Europe as well.

Background to TROSIFOL

TROSIFOL® is one of the leading manufacturers of PVB film for laminated safety glass worldwide. TROSIFOL products are used in applications for automotive and architectural glazing; special TROSIFOL films are used to encapsulate solar cells with long-term durability in the photovoltaic industry. The primary material for all TROSIFOL films is polyvinyl butyral (PVB) that has been used as an interlayer in laminated safety glass since the middle of the thirties of the 20th century. Since the launch of TROSIFOL in 1953, ongoing research and development have formed the foundation for TROSIFOL's success.

TROSIFOL is a division of the Kuraray Corporation domiciled in Tokyo, Japan, the world's market leader with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), one of the key raw materials for TROSIFOL PVB films.

Kuraray Europe GmbH has installed an integrated and externally monitored management system that satisfies the requirements of DIN EN ISO 9001:2000 with the supplementary demands of the automotive industry ISO/TS 16949, an environmental management system conforming to DIN EN ISO 14001:2005 and an occupational safety and health management system conforming to BS OHSAS 18001:2007.

www.trosifol.com

Press contact: Steffen Weber, Head of Business Development & Marketing Kuraray Europe GmbH, Division TROSIFOL, Mülheimer Strasse 26, 53840 Troisdorf, Germany Phone +49 (0) 22 41 / 2555 201 Fax +49 (0) 22 41 / 2555 299 Email: trosifol(at)kuraray.eu