Eastman Completes Acetate Tow Expansion At Workington Site
KINGSPORT, Tenn. & WORKINGTON, England--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE:EMN) has completed the previously announced capacity expansion of Eastman Estron™ acetate tow at its Eastman Chemical Workington Limited (ECWL) facility in Workington, England. ECWL is a wholly owned subsidiary of Eastman.
"We are pleased to have this additional capacity now available to serve our customers in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa region," said Richard L. Johnson, vice president and general manager for Eastman's fibers business. "By having this additional European capacity available to serve the EMEA region, we are also able to increase our supply of acetate tow to the growing Asia Pacific region from our existing facilities in Kingsport, Tennessee. This expansion is an important part of our plans for growth."
The production expansion, amounting to approximately 9,000 metric tons (MT), increases annual capacity at the Workington facility from 15,000 MT to 24,000 MT. With this increase, Eastman's total worldwide capacity for acetate tow now exceeds 180,000 MT. Acetate tow is used as a raw material for the manufacture of filters for cigarettes.
Eastman manufactures and markets chemicals, fibers and plastics worldwide. It provides key differentiated coatings, adhesives and specialty plastics products; is a major supplier of cellulose acetate fibers; and produces PET polymers for packaging. As a Responsible Care® company, Eastman is committed to achieving the highest standards of health, safety, environmental and security performance. Founded in 1920 and headquartered in Kingsport, Tenn., Eastman is a FORTUNE 500 company with 2007 sales of $6.8 billion and approximately 10,500 employees. For more information about Eastman and its products, visit www.eastman.com.
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