DuPont today announced the start up of its $500 million Cooper River
Kevlar® facility near Charleston, S.C. The Cooper River Kevlar® plant
uses state-of-the-art technology that will allow DuPont to meet
increased customer demand for advanced protective materials in emerging
industries around the world by expanding its portfolio of science-based
innovations and boosting productivity. Commercial supply will begin by
the end of the year.
Overall global production capacity for Kevlar® will increase
initially by 25 percent and is expected to grow by 40 percent, with
planned productivity improvements and continued technology developments
over the next two years. The new capacity will allow DuPont to provide
customers with next-generation Kevlar® products that improve their
ability to innovate in many applications.
According to DuPont and independent tests, new body armor can help
stop bullets within the first three layers of a vest designed with a
total of 11 layers. The remaining layers absorb the energy of the
bullet, resulting in 15 percent less bruising for the vest wearer.
DuPont estimates that the ballistics demand is growing at more than 10
percent annually.
Best known for its use in ballistic and stab-resistant body armor,
Kevlar® has helped save the lives of thousands of law enforcement and
military personnel around the world.
Added protection and performance can be achieved in ballistic
applications for military and police helmets and tactical plates.
Critical is the reduction of the weight of helmets for soldiers and
marines and for other helmet and tactical plate designs where there is
higher ballistic performance and increased protection, without
sacrificing other performance requirements.
“As the global population grows, there will be even more critical
need for protection materials to keep people safe and to protect the
environment, structures and critical processes,” said Thomas G. Powell,
president, DuPont Protection Technologies. “After more than 40 years,
the proven performance of Kevlar® continues to create significant new
opportunities where the combination of lightweight strength and other
unique properties enable new designs, increase reliability and save more
lives. This significant boost in production capacity and capability
demonstrates DuPont’s continuing commitment to support our customers and
to find solutions that help protect more people around the world.”
Along with a recent $50 million expansion at DuPont’s Spruance plant
in Richmond, Va., Cooper River represents the largest single investment
in Kevlar® and the largest capacity increase since the fiber was
introduced in 1965. DuPont also manufactures Kevlar® in Richmond, Va.;
Maydown, Northern Ireland and at a DuPont joint venture, DuPont-Toray
Company in Tokai, Japan. The Cooper River Kevlar® plant expansion has
created 135 jobs and was built over a period of three years using a
construction workforce of up to 800.
DuPont also has research and development facilities and customer
applications centers for Kevlar® in every region: Shanghai, China;
Hyderabad, India; Paulina, Brazil; Meyrin, Switzerland, Richmond, Va.
and Wilmington, Del.
The Cooper River Kevlar® plant will initially produce innovations
that support three primary technology platforms: DuPont™ Kevlar® AP,
DuPont™ Kevlar® KM2 Plus and DuPont® Kevlar® XP™ for growing
applications in ballistics, other personal protective equipment,
aerospace, tires, fiber optic cables, oil and gas and automotive. Among
the industry opportunities where new DuPont™ Kevlar® products already
are making an impact
Source: DuPont
