Meijer, a 39-year-old company veteran who serves as the Hong Kong-based managing director of the firm’s Asian operations, said “our customers from Europe want more localized production” in China. He said demand in the company’s primary markets of automotive and electrical/electronic is driving the move.

The plant will start by making nylon and polycarbonate compounds by mid-2013 at a site in Changshu, 55 miles west of Shanghai. It will cover almost 54,000 square feet and have a capacity of 22 million pounds per year, Meijer said.

“The new Albis site in China takes our globalization strategy for Albis’ own compounds one step further,” said CEO Jörg Schottek in a prepared statement. “We expect an annual growth in the demand for technical plastics in China of around 14% over the next few years.”

He noted that Albis wants to “go up against the local suppliers, making full use of our technological head start.”

Meijer said Albis currently employs 20 people in China, in Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Shanghai, in sales, service and administrative roles. The firm plans to start in Changshu by making products from its Alcom and Altech brands, and eventually add production of its Tedur linear polyphenylene sulfide and Alfater XL crosslinked thermoplastic vulcanizate lines. Other targets for the plant’s output will include the appliance and consumables industries.