South Carolina Site Gets New Kevlar Plant
DuPont announced Dec. 19 that its Cooper River plant about 30 miles west of Charleston, S.C., is the chosen site for a $500 million investment to significantly expand production of Kevlar® para-aramid fiber for industrial and military uses. Peak construction of a new Kevlar fiber facility begins there in January, with 100 permanent DuPont jobs and more than 400 contractor jobs resulting. The plant's startup is scheduled for 2010.
The company said the new facility is the centerpiece of a multi-year project that will boost Kevlar production capacity by more than 25 percent. An additional $50 million is being invested at DuPont's Spruance plant in Richmond, Va., to increase Kevlar® polymer production. This is the biggest increase since Kevlar was introduced in 1965.
"The new plant at Cooper River, together with our other global assets, will help DuPont meet strong and growing global demand for Kevlar," said Tom Powell, vice president and general manager, DuPont Advanced Fiber Systems. "It also will allow us to put our innovative science to work to develop new, differentiated Kevlar products using the latest new fiber technologies that protect people and processes."