Sumitomo Bakelite Co., Ltd. recently announced its intention to open a new manufacturing line to produce epoxy encapsulation composite materials for automotive applications at its Belgian production subsidiary, Vyncolit NV. The investment will provide local manufacturing capacity for specialist encapsulation materials in the automotive and new mobility fields in Europe, with the company aiming to reach sales in the encapsulation compound market of ¥12 billion (approximately $111.6 million) by its 2025 fiscal year.

Due to the recent rapid adoption of electric (EV) and hybrid (HV) vehicles, coupled with increasingly complex IT systems in new mobility solutions, Sumitomo Bakelite is expanding its production capacity to meet the increasing demand for epoxy encapsulation materials in automotive applications. According to the company, local production capacity and prototyping facilities will enhance the automotive materials offering and the development of bespoke customer solutions. The new European production line will come online for industrial supply in early 2022, with a production capacity of several thousand tons per year.