MOSCOW (MRC) -- Solvay is expanding its polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) capacity in Tavaux, France, to make it the largest PVDF production site in Europe, said the company.
Solvay S.A. (Brussels, Belgium) announced that it is expanding its production capacity of high-performance polymer Solef polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) at its site in Tavaux, France. Building on its previously announced PVDF capacity increase at its site in Changshu, China, this new project will expand its capacity in Europe to 35,000 metric tons per year (m.t./yr), creating the largest PVDF production site in the region. This investment will be completed by December 2023 and reinforces Solvay’s global leadership in this field, positioning it to capitalize on the growing demand for electric and hybrid vehicles.
The rapid growth of electric and hybrid vehicles is driving unprecedented demand for PVDF, a thermoplastic fluoropolymer used both as a binder and a separator coating in lithium-ion batteries which is essential for the creation of safer and longer-range performance.
The EUR300m investment will bring capacity to 35 tonnes/year to cater to the growing demand in the lithium-ion battery market, scheduled to come online by December 2023. Solvay expects its sales to the automotive market from its materials business segment to rise from around EUR800m in 2021 to more than EUR2.5bn by 2030.
As MRC informed earlier, in August, 2020, through the acquisition of the Solvay polyamide (PA) business, BASF enhanced its R&D capabilities in Asia Pacific with new technologies, technical expertise, and upgraded material and part testing services. BASF is planning to integrate the R&D centers from Solvay into its R&D existing facilities in Shanghai, China, and Seoul, Korea. The enhanced capabilities will boost BASF’s position as a solution provider to develop advanced material solutions for key industries.
We remind that BASF-YPC, a 50-50 joint venture of BASF and Sinopec, undertook a planned shutdown at its naphtha cracker on 30 April 2020. The company initially planned to start turnaround at the cracker on April 5, 2020. The plant remained under maintenance unitl 18 June, 2020. Located in Jiangsu, China, the cracker has an ethylene capacity of 750,000 mt/year and propylene capacity of 400,000 mt/year.
Solvay is a science company whose technologies bring benefits to many aspects of daily life. With more than 24,100 employees in 64 countries, Solvay bonds people, ideas and elements to reinvent progress. The Group seeks to create sustainable shared value for all, notably through its Solvay One Planet plan crafted around three pillars: protecting the climate, preserving resources and fostering better life. The Group’s innovative solutions contribute to safer, cleaner, and more sustainable products found in homes, food and consumer goods, planes, cars, batteries, smart devices, health care applications, water and air purification systems. Founded in 1863, Solvay today ranks among the world’s top three companies for the vast majority of its activities and delivered net sales of EUR10.2 billion in 2019. Solvay is listed on Euronext Brussels (SOLB) and Paris and in the United States, where its shares (SOLVY) are traded through a Level I ADR program.
MRC