Evonik Industries AG is expanding its oxo alcohol production capacity at the Marl site by 60,000 metric tons per year.The alcohol 2-propyl heptanol (2-PH), which is used as a starting material in the manufacture of PVC, for example, in cables and films, will also be produced there for the first time. The 2-PH facility is scheduled to come on stream in the latter half of 2009.
Given the globally growing demand for plasticizers, the new 2-PH plant will complement the existing isononanol (INA) business. At the Marl site, Evonik already has an annual INA capacity of 340,000 metric tons, which makes the facility the world's largest single production plant for this plasticizer alcohol, and Evonik the largest producer of C9/C10 plasticizer alcohols.
- With this investment, we`re optimizing our production network in C4 chemicals, an area where we already enjoy a leading position worldwide and have expertise going back several years - says Dr. Klaus Engel, member of Evonik's Executive Board with responsibility for the Chemicals Business Area.
Plasticizers transform brittle PVC into a flexible material, making it possible to use the polymer in a greater number of consumer products. They are contained in, for example, floor coatings, cable insulation, tarpaulin fabrics, various automotive applications, and films. In addition to 2-PH and isononanol, Evonik also produces in Marl the PVC plasticizer VESTINOL? 9, at a capacity of 220,000 mt per year.
Evonik Industries is the creative industrial group from Germany which operates in three business areas: Chemicals, Energy and Real Estate. Evonik is a global leader in specialty chemicals, an expert in power generation from hard coal and renewable energies, and one of the largest private residential real estate companies in Germany. Our strengths are creativity, specialization, continuous self-renewal, and reliability. Evonik is active in over 100 countries around the world. In its fiscal year 2006 more than 43,000 employees generated sales of about Euro 14.8 billion and an operating profit (EBIT) of over Euro 1.2 billion.
