DSM Elastomers will invest about EUR 100 million in a new plant for the production of EPDM rubber (Keltan®) at its site in Geleen, the Netherlands, with a capacity of 80,000 tons per year. The plant is to come on stream in the second half of 2002. Detailed engineering is nearing completion, and construction is scheduled to start in the first quarter of 2001. The new plant will be based on the same technology as the two existing plants at the Geleen site. This technology yields a wide range of high-performance EPDM grades that can be used in for example automotive components mechanical rubber goods, building construction, wire & cable covering, oil additives and as a basic material for thermoplastics modification and thermoplastic elastomers. DSM Elastomers has selected Fluor Daniel BV (Haarlem, The Netherlands) as its engineering contractor and Fabricom (Grimbergen, Belgium) and NBM Beton- en Industriebouw (Breda, The Netherlands) as its construction partners. – DSM will also invest EUR 90 million in a new melamine plant with a capacity of 30,000 tons per year and room for expansion in the future at Geleen site. The new plant is scheduled to come on stream towards the end of 2002. It will be based on DSM’s high-pressure SLP (Shortened Liquid Phase) process. Melamine is used mainly in adhesives, impregnation materials, coatings and unbreakable crockery (moulding compounds). The greater part of the overall output is used in wood applications.
