Zotefoams kick starts Chinese joint venture

Zotefoams kicked its Chinese joint venture into action on Thursday, with the announcement of a new product - T-FIT Clean - to be made at its facility in the country's Jiangsu province.

The listed supplier of cellular material technology said the product would be manufactured and sold through its joint venture company, ZOTEK King Lai, established with the King Lai Group in March last year.

"This news builds on Zotefoams and King Lai's long-standing relationship in China," said managing director David Stirling.

"King Lai's strong position in products for cleanroom markets continues to make them the ideal partner to accelerate the development of our unique materials," he added.

T-FIT was described as a range of high-performance closed-cell foam insulation products, with production expected to commence in the second quarter of 2016

Zotefoams said it would be the first product line to be made at the new custom-built moulding facility in China, and would replace the existing T-TUBES brand outside North America.

T-FIT Clean, specifically, was being manufactured to service the existing demands of pipe and tube cleanroom insulation requirements, the company's board said, particularly in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and semiconductor industries.

It would be made from Zotefoams' elastomeric closed-cell foam, ZOTEK F42HTLS.

At 1245 GMT, shares in Zotefoams were down 0.33% to 300p.