AkzoNobel is to boost capacity of its worldscale Trimethyl Gallium (TMGa) plant in La Porte, Texas, US - consolidating the plant’s status as the largest of its kind in the world. The investment involves extending the Trimethyl Aluminum (TMAl) unit and building a new Trimethyl Gallium plant. TMAl is a feedstock for TMGa, a high purity metalorganic (HPMO) used in products such as LED wafer manufacturing.

With this multi-million expansion AkzoNobel meets the increasing demand from the semi-conductor industry, particularly for the production of light emitting diodes (LEDs). Financial details were not disclosed.

The expanded TMAl unit is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2013, while the new TMGa plant will be ready in August 2014.

“The LED industry has been experiencing strong growth, well in excess of 20 percent per annum,” explained Werner Fuhrmann, AkzoNobel’s Executive Committee Member responsible for Specialty Chemicals. “This investment will make production more cost-efficient and ensure that we continue supplying our customers with a highly specialized product which is playing an increasingly important role in 21st century technology.”

The global LED industry is projected to grow significantly over the next decade, driven by applications in displays such as PCs, laptops and tablet screens. The massive increase in the use of LEDs for general lighting is also expected to contribute strongly as they become the preferred source of light over incandescent bulbs and compact fluorescent lamps, due to their low energy consumption and extended lifetime.