NORTH KINGSTOWN – Toray Plastics (America) Inc. will help to establish a new European branch in Rhône-Alpes, France, the company said today.
The North Kingstown-based company, a producer of packaging film technology, will drive development and commercialization at the new site for the parent company, Tokyo-based Toray Industries Inc.
“Market forces and Toray Plastics (America) Inc.’s successful commitment to excellence have converged perfectly,” Richard Schloesser, executive vice president of the U.S. division, said in a statement today. “Throughout Western and Eastern Europe, end users want access to the most technologically advanced value-added barrier films, and we are pleased to lend our expertise to Toray Industries’ new European enterprise and help it succeed in meeting the market’s demands.”
Toray Plastics (America), which currently serves North America, Europe, Australia and South Africa, said the decision to establish a European branch was prompted by an increased demand for products in Eastern Europe and Russia.
“We have built our business around the needs of our largest customers, and this new venture will fit well with the strategic growth plans of our global partners,” said Schloesser.
The new facility – to be called Toray Films Europe SAS – is to be built at the site of the company’s existing polyester-film manufacturing base, Toray Plastics Europe S.A. Toray plans to invest $100 million in the project.
“The new manufacturing facility in France will produce 20,000 tons of Torayfan bi-axially oriented polypropylene high-barrier metallized film,” Toray spokeswoman Claudia Kreiss told PBN in an e-mail interview. The metallization will be accomplished through a vapor deposition process.
Operations at the facility are slated to begin in April 2010.
Toray Plastics (America) Inc. is a manufacturer of polyester and polypropylene films for flexible and rigid packaging, lidding, graphic, industrial, optical and electronic applications. It is a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Toray Industries Inc., a maker of synthetic fibers and textiles, carbon fibers, plastics, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and high-performance films whose annual sales exceed $12 billion. To learn more, visit www.TorayFilms.com.
