Evonik invests over €400 million in new plant

Evonik has officially begun construction on its largest investment to date in Germany.

A ceremony took place at Marl Chemical Park, attended by customers, employees, and other representatives from the world of politics to signal the launch of the project.

The company is expanding capacity for polyamide 12 (PA 12) by more than 50 percent at its largest site in the world.

The project will complement existing PA 12 production there with additional plants for the polymer and its precursors, with startup scheduled for 2021.

When speaking at the ceremony, Armin Laschet the minister president of the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, pointed out the special significance of investing over €400 million euros (approximately £354 million) in Germany, and especially in the northern part of the Ruhr region.

He said: “That a leading specialty chemicals company like Evonik is investing here in an ultra-modern production site shows that North Rhine-Westphalia is the number one chemical location in Germany and can compete at a global level. Singapore and other countries competed hard for this plant with tax benefits. In the end, the decision was for Marl because here we have the advantage of a network of competent chemical and energy companies. Plastic is a high-tech material and a resource of the future.”

Christian Kullmann, added: “This is the biggest single investment our company has made in Germany. We’re building this plant because we want to continue to grow with innovative specialty chemical products. With our high-performance polymer PA 12 we can supply global strategic growth markets such as 3D printing. But also in the automotive industry, our light-weight and long-lasting plastic makes an important contribution to resource efficiency.”

Claus Rettig, chairman of the management board of Evonik Resource Efficiency, explained: “We want to become faster and more flexible when it comes to developing new, customized polymers to help our customers achieve strong growth. We need new technologies to do that, which is why we’ve taken consistent steps toward utilising artificial intelligence.”