Polyplex USA to expand BOPET-film production at AL plant, add 100 jobs
Substrate provider Polyplex USA will invest over $90 million to expand production of specialized polyester film at its Decatur, AL, facility in a project that will create 100 jobs when complete.
Polyplex plans to add a second Biaxially Oriented Polyethylene Terephthalate (BOPET) film line at the Alabama facility, with an additional investment to create matching capacity for captive resin.
Amit Kalra, president of Polyplex USA, said the growth project will solidify the company’s leadership position in the U.S. market. "We are eager to leverage our existing operations, our strong ties to our customers, to our communities and of course to the expertise of our operations team as evidenced by our successful expansions in other locations,” Kalra says. “We have a well-established sales and distribution system and hope to continue to provide additional value to our customers with a cost effective, faster turnaround and increased reliability of supplies.”
Once the expansion project is complete, Polyplex’s Decatur facility will reportedly have the largest-capacity BOPET film line in the world.
Polyplex said construction at the facility is scheduled to begin during the first half of 2021, with production expected to begin by the end of next year.
Kalra said the expansion will tap into the growing shift toward local supply in regional markets. It will also make Polyplex USA’s cost structure more efficient with a two-line configuration, metallizing and captive resin manufacturing. “This investment will significantly reduce the overall unit cost and provide a more robust value proposition to the industry,” Kalra adds.