Producer of styrenic block copolymers, used in a wide range of applications including footwear products, tapes and labels, Kraton Polymers LLC has revealed plans to expand its presence in the Asia Pacific region. The investment plans include a multi-functional customer service centre and a proprietary Kraton G manufacturing plant. It has also announced several new leadership positions.

The new customer service centre, to be located in China, is projected to be operational in the first quarter of 2007, and will include both distribution capabilities and technical product support for customers in the region.

As part of its expansion strategy, Kraton is evaluating the construction of a 30,000 tpa hydrogenated SBC manufacturing facility in the region, which could be operational as early as 2009.

To support these expansion plans, the company has appointed James Dieter to the position of vice president of Sales and Marketing for Asia Pacific. Mr Dieter has been with Kraton since 1977 and has managed in each of Kraton's five end-use markets, most recently as North American manager for Adhesives, Sealants, and Coatings. In his new role, he will be responsible for overseeing Kraton's sales, marketing and business development efforts in the Asia Pacific region. Additionally, Bruce Toig has been appointed as director of Supply, Distribution and Customer Fulfilment for Asia Pacific. He has been with Kraton since 1976, most recently as North American Business manager for Compounding.

Kraton claims to be the world's largest producer of styrenic block copolymers, which are highly engineered synthetic elastomers that enhance the performance of products by delivering a variety of attributes, including greater flexibility, resilience, strength, durability and processability.