Management board chairman Manfred Schneider said at a dedication ceremony for a new plant in Baytown that the group would invest an additional 250 million marks ($153 million) in the location to expand capacity.

``In our long-term strategy the United States ranks next to Europe as our highest priority,'' Schneider said.

The 240 million mark plant that opened on Monday produces components used in the manufacture of foam and is part of a 2.3 billion mark investment programme planned for the Baytown site, southeast of Houston.

The goal of the Baytown investment is to expand production capacity for polyurethane components as well as for methylene and toluene products, the company said. Technical plastics is also a focus of the investment.