BYK Expands German Additives Capacity by About 25%
Need to Know
- BYK invested approximately €12 million to expand production and storage capacity at its Schkopau, Germany, site.
- A new extrusion line increases production capacity by about 25% and enables the manufacture of granulated products used in glass fiber coatings and other applications.
- The project includes a heating system based on heat recovery and heat pumps, with a complete sitewide fossil-fuel phaseout planned by the end of 2027.
BYK has inaugurated expanded production and storage capacity at its Schkopau operation in Germany following an investment of approximately €12 million.
The facility, located at the Dow ValuePark, specializes in thermoplastic products and high-performance modifiers for plastics. The expansion includes a new extrusion line that increases production capacity by about one-quarter.
BYK said the extrusion line enables the site to manufacture granulated products used in glass fiber coatings, household appliances and other applications. Approximately 50 employees work at the Schkopau operation.
The project also added a warehouse with 600 pallet spaces and a loading ramp for containerized goods. BYK said the added storage and handling capacity will support customers in Europe as output from the site increases.
The facility manufactures high-performance modifiers marketed under the SCONA brand. The additives can function as adhesion promoters in plastics and plastic composites and are intended to improve properties such as strength and durability.
Although the Schkopau site is focused primarily on thermoplastics and plastic modifiers rather than BYK’s broader coatings-additives portfolio, the company identifies glass fiber coatings as one of the applications supported by the newly added granulated-product capacity.
The expansion also incorporates a heating system that does not use fossil fuels. The system combines heat recovery with heat pumps. In a separate project, BYK plans to phase out fossil-fuel use across the site by the end of 2027.
BYK said it has invested approximately €27 million at Schkopau during the past 15 years, excluding or including? the company’s release states total prior investment but does not clearly specify whether the new €12 million is included in that cumulative figure. To avoid conflating the amounts, PCI should retain the new project’s €12 million figure as the primary investment value.
For more developments involving paint and coatings additives, explore PCI’s coverage.
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