Ascend to forego attending Plastimagen 2022, citing coronavirus concerns
Ascend Performance Materials will not be exhibiting at Plastimagen 2022, citing updated guidance and a travel advisory from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“We continue to invest in our manufacturing assets, expanding our portfolio and increasing our technical and commercial resources to support our customer’s growth in Latin America,” said Isaac Khalil, Ascend’s senior vice president for polyamides. “Safety remains our highest priority. While we are unable to attend Plastimagen, we continue to engage with our customers and align our asset network and portfolio with their growth plans.”
Ascend is expected to close on its first acquisition in Latin America on April 1. Since announcing the acquisition last December, Ascend has been qualifying production at the facility of its signature polyamide compounds and named a new country director in Lourdes Alvarez.
“Preparations for integrating the new site in Mexico are well underway, with production qualifications for grades of our Vydyne and Starflam polyamides nearly complete,” said Ms. Alvarez. “While we will miss the opportunity to network with our peers and customers at this year’s Plastimagen, we are in contact with our customers to ensure we can support them locally as soon as possible.”
Ascend, a fully integrated producer of durable engineered materials has grown its global production footprint with a series of announced expansions over the past four years. Since 2018, the company has added three compounding facilities in Europe, a compounding facility in China, the compounding facility in Mexico, and announced plans to build a world-scale HMD plant in China.
