A 2,500tpa plant will be built in Germany this year

A 2,500tpa plant will be built in Germany this year

US research company Cyclics will build the first production plant for its cyclic PBT resin in Europe. The company intends to begin production of its proprietary CBT resin at a 2,500tpa plant in Schwarzheide in Germany by the end of this year. The resin is currently made at a toll plant in the US. The German plant would allow Cyclics to bring the material to full commercialisation.

Marin Rцsch, marketing manager at Cyclics Europe, said: “We have more projects in Europe than we do in the US.” Cyclics is working with Italian masterbatch company P Group to develop rotomoulding grades of CBT, for use in tanks. It already has a partnership with Dow Automotive to develop applications in the automotive industry.

The company also sees potential for CBTs as a carrier for nanocomposite concentrates and as a base for co-polyester elastomers. It will exhibit at K2004 as part of the US pavilion. CBT is a cyclic form of PBT, but with a much lower viscosity. When processed with a catalyst, it is converted back to PBT.