FAIRLAWN, US: OMNOVA Solutions will make an investment to repurpose (or redirect) excess styrene butadiene (SB) latex capacity at its plant in Mogadore, Ohio, US to the production of styrene acrylic and other specialty emulsion polymer chemistries. The project will allow OMNOVA to optimize its existing assets and provide significantly greater flexibility to respond to the company’s changing business mix with a wide range of polymers in its Mogadore facility.
The company will upgrade existing polymerization vessels and add new supporting equipment and storage at its Mogadore site. At the same time, it is expected to improve SB industry capacity utilization.
“This action will create efficiencies and quality improvements that will make OMNOVA more competitive. It builds on investments the company has been making to repurpose styrene butadiene assets and further modernize its manufacturing capabilities to meet changing customer needs,” said Jim Hohman, President, Performance Chemicals segment, OMNOVA.
“Recently, we completed the conversion of some SB capacity to the production of hollow plastic pigments as well as bio-polymers. All these actions combined will bring OMNOVA’s emulsion capacity utilization back near historical levels by taking out approximately 120 million pounds of SB industry capacity. Styrene butadiene latex will continue to be an important part of our portfolio, but will be complemented by newer assets in Mogadore to meet the increasing demand for OMNOVA’s styrene acrylic products and other chemistries,” added Hohman.
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