Noltex
was formed in June of 1994 as a Joint Venture between Nippon Gohsei (U.S.A.) Co., Ltd. (a
fully owned subsidiary of Japan's Nippon Synthetic Chemical Industry Company Co., Ltd.)
and Mitsubishi Chemical America, Inc.
(a fully owned subsidiary of Japan's Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation).
Noltex purchased the idled Du Pont EVOH manufacturing facilities in La Porte, Texas, following Du Pont's
failed attempts to produce an effective EVOH barrier resin. Noltex began production of Soarnol resin in early 1996 after
retrofitting the first of our plant's production lines with Nippon Gohsei technology.
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In its first full year of production,
Noltex produced roughly 40% more EVOH resin than its predecessor had planned for.
Earlier this year Noltex completed a retrofit of our second production line, and immediately brought it on line.
Our plant now services the needs of the North and South American, and the European markets, with a total
annual production capacity of 18,000 metric tons. This additional capacity has allowed Noltex to expand our EVOH
product line to include specialty Soarnol grades in order to better meet the increased demand for this unique gas barrier resin.
 In addition
to a steadily increasing demand in traditional food
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packaging applications, new markets (such as plastic
vehicle fuel tanks and the nascent plastic beer bottle)
will also be served by this expanded production capability.
Although our plant is already one of the largest of its kind in the world, Noltex is now planning to increase its current
capacity by 20%, through implementation of a proactive "de-bottlenecking" program.
Noltex continues to expand our capacity, and our horizons, in order to meet the needs of a continually evolving market
place and, a rapidly changing world.
Soarnol is distributed in NAFTA markets ( U.S., Canada and Mexico ) exclusively
through Soarus, LLC.
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