Solutia Expands its Chinese Vistasolar Encapsulant Production Capacity

Solutia Inc. plans to expand its presence in China by including the manufacture of the encapsulant Vistasolar ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) at its facility in Suzhou, China.

This particular investment will include in its foray the construction of its new building that is capable of housing numerous EVA manufacturing lines and is likely to offer the infrastructure that is needed for additional capacity in the future. The new production lines will have the capability to manufacture 2.35 m wide sheets with the initial production process likely to be finished by June 2011.

As per the Marketbuzz 2010 report of Solarbuzz, the EVA encapsulant demand in China is projected to grow three-fold by the year 2015 from the levels that existed in 2009. The Asia Pacific region is also expected to grow at the same rate during the same period. Currently, the majority of the solar PV module manufacturing capacity is situated in China and this EVA lines addition will facilitate Solutia in catering to the local demand in a cost-effective manner.