Solutia Inc celebrated the grand opening of its new plant in Suzhou, China. The plant is a manufacturing site for the company's Saflex business. Saflex is the world's leading producer and seller of polyvinyl butyral interlayers. The Suzhou plant site is ideally suited for future expansion of Saflex and for other Solutia businesses.
"Solutia is committed to growth in China, and this new plant is a very significant symbol of that commitment," said Jeff Quinn, chairman, president and CEO of Solutia Inc. "While Solutia has made a number of major capital investments in its businesses through the years, this is the first entirely new plant we have built from the ground up. We will continue to devote substantial resources to seizing the growth opportunities in China across each of our businesses."
The plant has been developed as a full-scale facility that currently produces Saflex interlayer for the automotive market, with room for future capacity to serve the architectural market as well. The current manufacturing line is designed to produce approximately 10 million square meters of Saflex interlayer per year, with space for further expansion as market growth requires more capacity.
"Global demand for Saflex interlayers continues to rise around the world, especially in China," said Dr. Luc De Temmerman, president of Solutia's Saflex business. "This new plant improves our ability to serve the needs of laminators and glass fabricators serving the rapidlygrowing Chinese automotive industry and the broader Asia-Pacific markets. We look forward to collaborating with these customers, and believe the new Suzhou plant will support significant growth in the laminated glass market."
Saflex customers who participated in the opening ceremony included senior representatives from the Fuyao Glass Industries Group and Xinyi Glass Holdings Limited, as well as key representatives from major multinational customers and many Chinese laminators.
In addition to the Suzhou plant, Solutia's Saflex presence in the Asia-Pacific region includes a regional customer service center and finishing and distribution center in Singapore, as well as sales offices across the region. This infrastructure continues to provide the high level of logistical support and customer service that customers have come to expect from Saflex.
