Expansion of PMMA production capacity in Worms: Röhm commissions new plant for PLEXIGLAS® molding compounds

• Röhm strengthens its market leadership for PLEXIGLAS® molding compounds in Europe
• The next milestone in Röhm’s strategy towards global growth
• Increase in production capacity due to rising demand from the automotive industry

In expanding production capacity for PLEXIGLAS® molding compounds at its largest global production site in Worms, Röhm has reached yet another important milestone in the implementation of its growth strategy. At an official ceremony, the plant was officially commissioned by Röhm’s COO Hans-Peter Hauck, Head of the Worms Site Robert Weber and Senior Vice President of the Molding Compounds Business Unit Siamak Djafarian. “The strategic expansion of our global PMMA capacities is an important step on our way to becoming the leading methacrylate Verbund,” explains Hauck. “Following the expansion of the plant’s capacity in Shanghai last year, we are now further consolidating our market leadership in Europe with this substantial increase in production capacity in Worms. This is yet another example of how we are a reliable partner within easy reach of our customers.” Röhm is the only global manufacturer of MMA and PMMA, complete with downstream compounding, in the all three important regions of Asia, North America and Europe.

The newly constructed plant will employ a newer, highly energy-efficient production process that will see a significant reduction in the carbon footprint of molding compound production. “Sustainability is an integral part of our business strategy,” added Siamak Djafarian, Head of Röhm’s Molding Compounds Business Unit. By increasing its production capacity, Röhm aims to respond to a steadily growing demand – especially from the automotive industry. Röhm is the European market leader in the sector of PLEXIGLAS® molding compounds and ranks second on a global scale.

Work on expanding production capacity for PLEXIGLAS® molding compounds in Worms, including an additional compounding plant for colored products, commenced in 2022 and is one of Röhm’s key strategic investments. Both the building and the infrastructure for the expansion of production capacity were already in situ. “Röhm has always acted with foresight in the past. Our engineers already anticipated a capacity expansion for PLEXIGLAS® molding compounds many years ago, and so they planned and designed the space with an additional production line in mind,” added Djafarian. “We also view our investment in the Worms site as a commitment to Germany as an industrial location.”

PLEXIGLAS®, the brand polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) from Röhm, has been established on the market for 90 years and is well-suited for applications where durability, resistance to weather and UV, color fastness, high luminosity and transparency as well as hardness and scratch-resistance are key. Röhm is constantly advancing its growth strategy with numerous investments in the world’s main economic regions of Europe, China and the USA. Started as an independent company four years ago with the goal of creating the leading Methacrylate Verbund, Röhm is well on its way to achieving this target. The central component of the strategy and the flagship project is the construction of a production plant for methyl methacrylate (MMA) in Bay City, Texas (USA) where the innovative LiMA technology developed by Röhm is used.