U.S. Plastic Products Projects Bring $3.7 Billion in Project Spending
Despite lots of press lamenting its environmental drawbacks, plastic seems here to stay. It is used in everything from packaging to doors and windows. Industrial Info is tracking more than $3.7 billion worth of active projects at U.S. plastic products plants, which include everything from medical supplies to outdoor furniture. No real blockbuster U.S. projects exist in this sector, with the highest-value project coming in at about $430 million, although that project, geared toward electronics packaging, remains more than 18 months from when it is expected to break ground.
Since passage of the CHIPS and Science Act in 2022, the U.S. has promised billions of dollars’ worth of funding for key sectors such as semiconductors. Several new semiconductor-fabrication plants have broken ground throughout the U.S. by notable players such as Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) (Santa Clara, California) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) (Hsinchu, Tawain). Companies already are gearing up to manufacture the packaging for these new devices, among them Entegris Incorporated (Billerica , Massachusetts), which is underway with the first phase of a project involving the manufacture of plastic packaging for semiconductors and other high-tech components in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The first phase will include construction of a 100,000-square-foot facility that is being built on the site of a former Hewlett-Packard plant. This portion of the project is expected to be completed next year, but Entegris already is anticipating a growing market for its products as the company intends to launch the bigger Phase II of construction a little more than a year after completion of Phase I. This part of the project will add another 500,000 square feet of building space and could be completed in 2028. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Industrial Manufacturing Project Database can learn more by viewing the related project reports.
Plastics also play an important role in the medical sector and Premix Group (Rajamäki, Finland) is capitalizing on this by constructing a manufacturing plant for plastic pipettes that can be used in diagnostic testing. Premix’s pipette tips use a medically upgraded polymer component that is electrically conductive. The company received U.S. government support for production of its products during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, which enabled Premix to begin constructing a plant in Dallas, North Carolina. The 66,200-square-foot plant will be fully operational next year. Subscribers can click here to learn more about the project.
Moving from small products to much larger ones, Schuetz Container Systems (North Branch, New Jersey) manufactures intermediate bulk containers (IBCs), which are large, reusable, industrial-grade containers used to store and transport bulk materials like liquids, powders, pastes and semi-solids. The company’s range of products includes antistatic and food-grade IBCs. Schuetz’s latest plant is being constructed in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Construction on the 371,000-square-foot facility kicked off this summer, and construction is expected to last about a year. Subscribers can learn more by viewing the project report.
A couple of projects involve the manufacture of plastic decking. Fiberon LLC (New London, North Carolina) manufactures both polyvinyl chloride (PVC) decking products and composite products made with polyethylene and wood flour. The company is nearing completion of an approximately 500,000-square-foot manufacturing and warehousing building in Columbia, Tennessee. Tiva Building Products (Mississauga, Ontario) also manufactures PVC decking and is finalizing a renovation of an existing building to increase its manufacturing presence in Blackville, South Carolina. Both projects are expected to be completed by the end of this year. Subscribers can learn more by viewing the reports on the Fiberon and Tiva projects.
Multiple projects are for vinyl or fiberglass windows and doors. Examples include Vinylmax LLC’s (Hamilton, Ohio) expansion of its plant in Hamilton. Vinylmax offers a range of doors and windows for both new construction and replacement, and the company is doubling the size of its manufacturing plant to meet growing product demand. Last summer, general contractor The Nelson Stark Company (Cincinnati, Ohio) began turning dirt for the expansion, which will double the size of the 150,00-square-foot facility. The project is expected to be completed by the end of this year, when Vinylmax hopes to begin ramping up to increased production capacity of 1 million windows per year. Subscribers can click here to learn more about the project.
Subscribers to Industrial Info’s GMI Database can click here to view reports for all of the projects discussed in this article and click here for the related plant profiles.
