Ingevity increasing caprolactone monomer capacity in UK 

North Charleston, South Carolina – Ingevity Corp. is increasing its production capacity for caprolactone monomer at its facility in Warrington, the UK.

In a 13 Oct statement, the US chemicals supplier said it will be carrying out a series of optimisation projects at the plant over the next 12 months, a move that is expected to increase the company’s global monomer production capacity by over 20%.

“We continue to experience growth in demand for the high-performance, sustainable solutions in our engineered polymers Capa portfolio,” said Mike Smith, executive vice president and president, Performance Chemicals. 

“We are committed to continued investment in innovation, production and customer partnerships to meet the expanding requirements of customers in a variety of end-use markets.” Smith added.

The upgrade project follows a recent announcement by Ingevity that it will open a new innovation center in Warrington at the end of 2021 and add polyol production capabilities at its DeRidder, Louisiana, facility in the second quarter of 2022.

“This capacity expansion in Warrington will better position Ingevity to meet increased global demand for our Capa derivative technologies, [and] improve the reliability of monomer supply in the merchant market,” said Steve Hulme, Ingevity’s VP, engineered polymers.

Caprolactone monomer is used in the production of a variety of advanced polymers with end-use market applications in coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers (CASE), urethane cast elastomers, thermoplastic polyurethanes, flexibilising additives, and polymer modification.