Victrex recently announced the creation of a joint-venture between its subsidiary, Victrex Hong Kong Limited, and Yingkou Xingfu Chemical Company Limited, to build and operate a new PEEK polymer manufacturing facility in Liaoning, China, subject to certain performance conditions, including finalizing land purchase and permit applications. 

Victrex, which will be the majority partner and lead the joint-venture, will benefit by further differentiating and complementing its portfolio of PEEK and PAEK grades, in anticipation of a range of significant long-term growth opportunities across several end markets in China, as well as aligning with China’s ‘Made in China 2025’ initiative, where specifying domestically produced PEEK in certain applications is expected to gain momentum. 

Victrex already has an established relationship with its joint-venture partner through its monomer supply chain, with Yingkou Xingfu having significant experience of developing and operating chemical facilities in China which meet international quality, process and environmental standards. 

This builds on Victrex’s recent appointment of a general manager for China and an increased commercial presence, as well as its strong technical service offering to customers, which includes its existing Technical Center in Shanghai. The investment sets the stage for Victrex to serve some of its regional customers from a local facility and in a more diverse way. Victrex will also oversee the management of process know-how and intellectual property during development of the polymerization process. 

“While we already manufacture a range of PEEK and PAEK grades, this will enhance our portfolio, making us even better positioned in a region where we have seen strong growth in recent years and continue to see attractive opportunities, aligned to our know-how and strong technical and application development capabilities. Overall, we believe this is a good entry point to a China manufacturing operation, working with an established partner and offering an attractive returns profile,” said Jakob Sigurdsson, chief executive of Victrex.