Lehigh creates joint venture with Hera in Spain

Barcelona, Spain – Lehigh Technologies Inc. is planning to grow in Europe with help from waste resource company Hera Holding.

The two companies are partnering in Spain to turn a Lehigh subsidiary into a joint venture with plans to build and operate what Lehigh’s micronised rubber powder (MRP) production facility in Europe.

Lehigh and HERA Holding began developing the market for MRP in Europe in 2013 and are already selling into 6 countries across the region.

In 2015, Lehigh formed Lehigh Spain for its European customers and under the new agreement, Hera Holding is now a stakeholder in Lehigh Spain.

According to Lehigh, a facility will be built in Murillo del Fruto, Spain. Lehigh said it will meet the growing MRP needs of industrial customers across the European Union and neighbouring regions.

Lehigh Spain, which was formed as a subsidiary about a year ago, will also continue to develop new markets for the company’s PolyDyne and MicroVyne product ranges, focusing on delivering high performance, low cost, sustainable raw materials for applications in the tire, asphalt and other industrial end users.

The US-based MRP announced last year that it was building the manufacturing site in Navarra, Murillo del Fruto, with a name-plate capacity of 3,000 tonnes a year with the option of expanding to 10,000 tonnes a year. At the time, Lehigh said the plant would be ready early this year.