July 26, 2016 Updated 7/26/2016
Email Print
Star Plastics Inc. has expanded its custom compounding capacity in China by opening a second production plant.
Star opened a 67,300-square foot facility in Shandong in early July to meet growing demand in China and other global markets.
“We’re expanding,” said Star global project manager Michael Watson in a phone interview. “This is a high-tech compounding operation.”
The new plant complements Star’s compounding plant in Shanghai, which opened four years ago and which will remain running, Watson said. The Shandong and Shanghai operations employ about 50 and that number should rise over time.
The Shandong operation includes a full-service laboratory and a 68-millimeter Nanjing Yongteng brand twin-screw extruder, with room for nine more extruders when future demand warrants expansion. The new plant gives Star more room to add new materials and technologies, the firm stated in a news release.
Star is headquartered in Millwood, W.Va., with another production plant in Ravenswood, W.Va. It employs about 25 at the two custom-compounding sites.
Star compounds a wide range of polymers for electrical, 3-D printing, consumer electronics, medical, lawn and garden and other markets. The Shandong operation can supply Star’s range of engineering resins such as polycarbonate and ABS and numerous alloys of those materials with acrylic, styrenic and polyester resins. Star can compound these with fiber reinforcements as well as flame retardants and mineral fillers. It also offers post-consumer content plastics in its EcoTech lineup.
Star, owned by Doug Ritchie, has been compounding for more than 25 years.
