High performance fibre producer Teijin Limited, announced today that it will enter the high-performance polyethylene (HP-PE) market by establishing its first production facility in Emmen in the Netherlands, aiming to start commercial production in the second half of 2011.

HP-PE yarns produced by companies such as Netherlands based DSM Dyneema are already used on a large scale in the manufacture of knitted protective gloves for industries such as automotive, meat processing and sheet metal working and this is known to be a growing market.

HP-PE yarns are normally processed on seamless automatic glove knitting machines such as Shima Seiki’s SFG and New SFG series. The SFG series produces medium to heavyweight gloves in gauges 5, 7 and 8 and the New SFG produces fine lightweight gloves in 10, 13, 15 and 18 gauges.

HP-PE yarns are process able on most gauges and are now known to yield reasonable cut-resistant levels even on the finer gauges of 13 and 15. Although large factories around the world produce the bulk of cut resistant gloves, some automotive manufacturers and other industrial concerns have their own onsite glove knitting machines in order to meet their own demand for semi-disposable gloves for their workers.

Teijin plans to grow its HP-PE business quickly through innovation and market cultivation, targeting a global market share of 15% to 20% by 2015. HP-PE, which generally comes in the form of fibres or tapes, is produced with ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) polymers. Being highly resistant to impact, cutting, wear and chemicals while offering outstanding toughness and strength, HP-PE has a wide range of applications, including reinforced plastics, protective materials, ropes, nets and medical materials.

Teijin Aramid BV and Teijin Techno Products Limited, core companies in Teijin’s Aramid Fibers Business Group, have been developing HP-PE production processes and products in their respective research facilities in Arnhem, the Netherlands and Iwakuni, Japan. Currently, Teijin produces limited amounts of HP-PE at pilot plants in the Netherlands and Japan.

As the result of these two companies successfully establishing viable mass-production technologies and new production processes, as well as the required product quality on a mass-production basis, Teijin has decided to move forward with its commercial production of HP-PE.

The Teijin Group’s ultra-high performance materials portfolio also includes Twaron para aramid, Technora para-aramid-copolymer, Teijinconex meta-aramid and Tenax carbon fibres, as well as hybrid products that combine these various speciality materials.