Evonik Industries announced it has officially started up its new ROHACELL plant at MUSC (Multi-User-Site-China) in the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park (SCIP).

The plant opening was celebrated with an inauguration ceremony attended by a significant number of guests including customers, partners and government representatives.

Completion of the 1200 square meter ROHACELL plant took just nine months following the facility's groundbreaking in April of 2015. This plant is Evonik's third and newest member of the ROHACELL global production facilities. The other two ROHACELL production sites are currently in operation – in Darmstadt, Germany and Mobile, Alabama, USA.

Dr. Claas Klasen, President of the Evonik Greater China region, opened the ceremony with a welcome to guests and expressed his confidence and expectations of success. "Greater China, as a key growth region for Evonik, continues to contribute to the strong performance of the group. Today, the inauguration of this ROHACELL plant celebrates another important step in Evonik's business development in China."

Congratulations from the management of SCIP was delivered by Mr. Zhou, Director of the Administrative Committee of SCIP. "We will focus on promoting the '13th Five-Year Plan' and increase efforts to attract investment, especially international, high-tech, low-energy consumption, highly safe and environmentally sound projects. In light of Evonik's investment activities, the Management Committee of SCIP and SCIP Development Company will continue to support these projects."

The opening of this plant demonstrates Evonik's commitment to a strategic decision to bring products closer to customers in Asia, which is a key milestone for growth of the ROHACELL foam business.

Dr. Matthias Kottenhahn, Senior Vice President & General Manager for High Performance Polymers, shared the ROHACELL vision and the role the plant plays in opening up new opportunities for meeting customer needs. "This Shanghai plant enables us to efficiently provide our products to customers throughout Asia, while supporting them with a local team and convenient service."

ROHACELL is a fast growing, innovative structural foam products used worldwide in a variety of industries including aviation, automotive, electronics, medical and sports equipment. The lightweight material has already been applied in Asia's aviation industry, including the regional jet ARJ21-700 and also the prototype of China's first large commercial airliner C919 that is scheduled to enter into commercial service in 2018.