Wilmington, Del.-based DuPont will invest $500 million in its Cooper River, S.C., plant to build a facility for the production of DuPont™ Kevlar® para-aramid fiber for industrial and military applications. Construction, scheduled to begin this month, will require more than 400 contract workers, while the new operation, expected to commence in 2010, will create 100 permanent jobs.

The Cooper River plant currently employs 60 workers in the production of DuPont Hytrel® thermoplastic polyester elastomer used primarily in automotive applications.

The new project is part of a previously announced expansion that will increase Kevlar production capacity by more than 25 percent globally. The expansion also includes a $50 million investment to increase Kevlar polymer production at DuPont’s Spruance plant in Richmond, Va. According to the company, the expansion represents the largest single investment and the largest capacity expansion for the para-aramid fiber since its introduction 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 Thomas G. 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.”

January 8, 2008