US Farathane acquires China’s Boston Plastics

HOUSTON (ICIS)–US automotive parts firm Farathane has acquired China-based Boston Plastics in a move to expand into Asia’s growing automotive sector, it said on Wednesday.

Shanghai-based Boston Plastics produces plastic-injected moulded components and assemblies for the automotive, industrial, and consumer end-markets. It has plants in Shanghai, Taicang, and Changchun.

The acquisition would provide Farathane with operations in China – “the largest global automobile market in the world” – and it would provide opportunities to serve existing original equipment manufacturing (OEM) customers in the US and China, the company said. Financial details were not disclosed.

Earlier this month, Farathane already announced the acquisition of Tepso Plastics Mex, a manufacturer of engineered plastic injection moulded components and assemblies for the automotive sector with two plants in Mexico.

Auburn Hills, Michigan-based Farathane supplies functional black plastic and interior and exterior plastic components to the automotive industry. With the latest acquisition it now has 16 plants in the US, Mexico and China.

The automotive industry is a major global consumer of petrochemicals which contribute more than a third of the raw material costs of an average vehicle. ICIS tracks the movement of petrochemical raw material costs in auto production both globally and regionally with the weighted ICIS Basket of Automotive Petrochemicals (IBAP).

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