Celanese to Add Celstran® Production Capability to Suzano, Brazil, Facility

Wed, July 16 2014

Local production will allow Celanese to better serve customers in growing region

DALLAS & FRANKFURT, Germany & SHANGHAI & SÃO PAULO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Celanese Corporation (NYSE: CE), a global technology and specialty materials company, today announced that it will expand its manufacturing capabilities at the company’s Suzano, Brazil, facility to include Celstran® long fiber reinforced thermoplastics (LFRT) production. The Celstran® expansion is expected to be operational by mid-2015.

This new Celstran® LFRT production operation will be part of the company’s manufacturing site in Suzano where Celanese already compounds Hostaform® / Celcon® acetal copolymer (POM) and Celanex® / Vandar® thermoplastic polyester (PBT) products for customers in Brazil and Latin America.

“The addition of Celstran® manufacturing capabilities to our existing site outside Sao Paulo is part of the Celanese growth strategy to directly serve our customers in Brazil and Latin America, where we see a healthy growth potential, especially in automotive applications,” said Phil McDivitt, vice president and general manager of the engineered materials business of Celanese.

Celanese long fiber reinforced thermoplastics, including Celstran®, Factor® and Compel®, offer a combination of stiffness and toughness unparalleled by conventional short-fiber reinforced thermoplastics. These products provide customers with outstanding value in meeting the needs of demanding applications that require metal replacement, weight reduction (resulting in lower carbon dioxide emissions), impact strength, design freedom and easy processing in key applications for:

• Automotive: structural, functional and appearance parts (instrument panels, door modules, front end modules, window systems, battery trays, clutch pedals, gear shift levers, consoles, HVAC louvers, air intake pipes and fascia supports).
• Consumer: appliances, electronics, power tools, garden equipment (housings, gears, pulleys, wheels and fan blades).
• Industrial: piping and connectors, window systems, and building and construction.
• Aerospace: seating systems, overhead consoles and cabin carts.

“By bringing this new production capacity to Brazil, Celanese will be the first local producer of Celstran® LFRT,” said Stefan Kutta, Celanese global director, Automotive industry. “We will leverage our local commercial and technical teams to deliver innovative polymer solutions to our customers and further support the growth of Celstran® in Latin America.”

“Having local production of Celstran® in Brazil will allow Celanese to better serve our customers by responding faster to incremental volumes and peak demands in this dynamic region,” said Guert Rucker, commercial director, South America, for Celanese. “Production in Brazil will also help address our customers’ needs for value chain localization of raw materials, enabling those customers working with Celanese to receive even further tax benefits in the automotive segment via the government program Inovarauto and regional trade agreements.”

The broad product line of Celstran® LFRT grades are produced using a patented pultrusion process that provides the highest quality impregnation and optimal wetting of the reinforcement fibers. By using various matrix materials, including polyamide (PA), polypropylene (PP), polyphenylene sulfide (PPS), PBT, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), polyacrylic acid (PAA), POM, thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) and others; and imbedding various glass-, carbon-, stainless steel- and aramid-fibers together with additives, Celanese LFRT grades can be tailored to meet many specific application requirements.

For more Celstran® LFRT product and performance information, visit: http://www.celanese.com/Celstranlfrt/auto

About Celanese

Celanese Corporation is a global technology leader in the production of differentiated chemistry solutions and specialty materials used in most major industries and consumer applications. With sales almost equally divided between North America, Europe and Asia, the company uses the full breadth of its global chemistry, technology and business expertise to create value for customers and the corporation. Celanese partners with customers to solve their most critical needs while making a positive impact on its communities and the world. Based in Dallas, Texas, Celanese employs approximately 7,400 employees worldwide and had 2013 net sales of $6.5 billion. For more information about Celanese Corporation and its product offerings, visit www.celanese.com or our blog at www.celaneseblog.com.

All trademarks indicated above are owned by Celanese International Corporation or its affiliates.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release may contain “forward-looking statements,” which include information concerning the company's plans, products, objectives, goals, strategies, future revenues or performance, and other information that is not historical information. When used in this release, the words “estimates,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “projects,” “plans,” “intends,” “believes,” “may,” “can,” “could,” “might,” “will” and variations of such words or similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are based upon current expectations and beliefs and various assumptions. There can be no assurance that the company or its customers will realize these benefits or that these beliefs will prove correct. There are a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements contained in this release. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things: changes in general economic, business, political and regulatory conditions; changes in the price and availability of raw materials; the introduction of competing products by other companies; market acceptance of our products; changes in the degree of intellectual property and other legal protection afforded to our products and processes; the impact of technological developments and competition; adoption of new or different industry or regulatory standards; unanticipated operational or commercial difficulties, including failure of facilities or processes or products to operate in accordance with specifications or expectations; ability of third parties, including our commercial partners, suppliers or others, to comply with their commitments to us; increased costs under existing or future environmental regulations, including those relating to climate change; potential liability resulting from pending or future litigation, or from changes in the laws, regulations or policies of governments or other governmental activities in the countries in which we operate; and various other factors discussed from time to time in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and the company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which it is made or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events or circumstances.

Celanese
Media Relations (Americas)
Travis Jacobsen, +1 972-443-3750
William.Jacobsen@celanese.com
or
Media Relations Europe (Germany)
Henning Küell, +49-69-45009-1797
Henning.Kuell@celanese.com
or
Media Relations Asia (Shanghai)
Amber Zhao, +86-21-3861-9222
Tong.Zhao@celanese.com
or
Commercial Contact (Brazil)
Guert Rucker, +55 11 3147 3388
Guert.Rucker@celanese.com

Source: Celanese Corporation