Today, April 12th, 2019, INEOS Styrolution, the global leader in styrenics, announced that it is planning to set up a new production site for its successful composite StyLight®.
The establishment of a new production site reflects growing customer demand. Ever since its introduction at the K in Düsseldorf in 2016, StyLight has caught the attention of designers globally in the automotive, electronics and sports industry. The SAN based composite excels with a combination of structural stiffness, aesthetics, processability, dimensional stability and a surface quality close to Class A. The portfolio has recently been expanded to include PP based StyLight[1].
Early development partnerships with the research institutes NMF (Neue Materialien Fürth GmbH) and NMB (Neue Materialien Bayreuth GmbH) were key to optimising the product properties and processing. Further partnerships with the companies Roctool and, more recently, with ARRK Shapers’ [2] has led to the full validation of StyLight according to the automotive interior specification of leading car manufacturers.
While INEOS Styrolution prioritises a location in Germany, a specific location for the new production site is yet to be defined. The new site is planned to be operational in 2022.
“Since the introduction of StyLight, we have dedicated significant resources on optimising material quality and product processing parameters. Having followed the development of StyLight from the very beginning, I am excited to see customers’ response and I am looking forward to this next step,” explains Pierre Juan, VP Future Business and Innovation.
“The decision to build a production site for StyLight is part of a larger investment program at INEOS Styrolution,” adds Kevin McQuade, CEO at INEOS Styrolution. “Recent activities such as the acquisition of polystyrene assets in China, construction of a new 100,000 tonnes ASA plant in Bayport, Texas, and the development of a new 50,000 tonnes ABS production line in Wingles, France, demonstrate our continued commitment as the leading global styrenics supplier. This investment is nevertheless outstanding as it gives birth to a brand new type of material, invented by INEOS Styrolution and offering our customers high performance and light weight solutions”.
