By Frank Esposito
SENIOR STAFF REPORTER
Published: September 23, 2014 3:11 pm ET
Updated: September 23, 2014 3:14 pm ET

Image By: PolyOne Corp.
Robert Patterson

North American compounding leader PolyOne Corp. has opened a new plant in Pune, India.

An opening ceremony was held at the site Sept. 17. The plant makes specialty solid concentrates, as well as liquid color and additive formulations. Development labs and a sales and customer service center also are located at the site.

“India is an attractive region with strong underlying growth potential,” president and CEO Robert Patterson said in a news release. “This investment will deliver exceptional value to our customers.”

India managing director Vikas Vij added that PolyOne “now offers more solutions than ever before.”

For Avon Lake, Ohio-based PolyOne, the Indian plant is its second new international location to open in less than a year. In December, the firm opened a plant in Istanbul, Turkey. Demand from the Turkish plastics market is growing 10 percent per year, officials said.

The opening also continues a busy 2014 for PolyOne. In April, the firm announced it would open an innovation center in Shanghai that would serve as PolyOne’s headquarters for the Asia Pacific region. News of the new center came in between January’s announcement of the closing of an administrative office in Washington, Pa., and July’s news of the closing of two plants in Brazil.

PolyOne posted sales of just over $2 billion in the first half of 2014, up 9 percent vs. the same 2013 period. The firm’s profit climbed 21 percent to $60.3 million in the same comparison.

On Wall Street, PolyOne’s per-share stock price began the year around $35 but was at $36.50 in late trading Sept. 23 for an increase of about 4 percent. The firm ranks as North America’s largest compounder and concentrate maker with a market share of about 12 percent. PolyOne’s resin distribution business also is one of the largest in the region.