Bangkok-based polyester supplier Indorama Ventures announced plans to invest $35 million in its Spartanburg County subsidiary, Auriga Polymers Inc. The investment will boost production capacity and allow the company to produce more environmentally friendly fibers.
Acquired by Indorama in 2011, Auriga Polymers currently produces polyester resins and specialty polymers used in bottles, trays, sheets, films and textile applications. The company plans to install an extruder system and add 15,000 tons of extrusion-based fiber spinning capacity.
“Indorama Ventures is constantly evolving its portfolio and technologies to help our customers grow. This added capacity increases Auriga’s position to support our customers who are seeing growing demand for specialty materials in all sectors of the nonwovens marketplace,” said Auriga Polymers Inc. VP of Polymers and Fibers Tom Brekovsky.
Based in Bangkok, Indorama Ventures employs 12,000 people across 60 locations in 19 countries for petrochemical production and the manufacture of PET resins, fibers, filaments and wool yarns. Auriga Polymers can produce 71,000 tons of polyester fibers and 387,000 tons of PET per year from its South Carolina operations at 1550 Dewberry Road, and maintains business and administrative offices in Charlotte.
“Spartanburg County is pleased to work with Auriga Polymers on this latest expansion as it ensures they remain a global leader in the advanced materials industry,” said Spartanburg County Councilman David Britt, also a member of the county’s economic development arm, Economic Futures Group. “This investment of $35 million will not only increase their production capacity, it also represents an investment in new state-of-the-art machinery and equipment.”
