ESSEN, Germany – Specialty chemicals company Evonik Industries plans to start up new facilities and production capacities in 2014 that represent an investment volume of close to €1 billion. Investments are planned in high-growth emerging markets.

"By the end of the coming year, we will have implemented over €3 billion of the total six-billion-euro investments that are planned from 2012 to 2016. This will make a contribution to our future economic success," said Klaus Engel, Chairman of the Executive Board.

Four large-scale production facilities, among others, will become operational in 2014. One project slated for 2014 is the start-up of new production facilities for isophorone and isophorone diamine in Shanghai. These crosslinkers are essential components for the production of industrial floors, synthetic leather and coatings. They are also used in chemical synthesis and in the growth area of high-performance composite materials, which are used, among other applications, for wind power facilities. The total investment volume is over €100 million.

Additional projects slated for 2014 include: completion of a world-scale plant for the production of the amino acid MetAMINO^® (DL-methionine) for animal feed in Singapore, the ramping up of the company’s global annual capacities of the feed amino acid Biolys^® (source of L-lysine) to almost 500,000 metric tons by 2015, the opening of a new plant in Brazil for the production of substances used in cosmetics and household consumer products, and the opening this spring in Germany of a new facility for the production of functionalized polybutadienes.

Evonik's investment and growth program will comprise over €6 billion from 2012 to 2016. Two-thirds are slated for growth investments, while another third will be spent on existing facilities. Evonik aims to achieve sales of around €18 billion and adjusted EBITDA of over €3 billion in 2018.