France’s Arkema (Colombes; www.arkema.com) is further boosting its presence in Asia with a new plant for its bio-based “Rilsan” PA 11 powder, which is set to to go onstream in Changshu, Jiangsu / China by 2023. The facility will complement the French speciality chemicals producer’s EUR 350m project currently under construction on Singapore’s Jurong Island (see Plasteurope.com of 10.05.2019). This project – the costliest in company history – is now due to start up in the second quarter of 2022 after being delayed by the coronavirus pandemic. It combines a resins unit with a plant producing the renewable 11-aminoundecanoic acid feedstock, which is derived from castor beans.

PA 11 is the only 100% bio-based polyamide approved as a substitute for metal in demanding applications, Arkema said. The material is used in particular in electronics, 3D printing, cars, and oil and gas extraction.

The company said the new investment will further support the increasing need for advanced bio-circular materials in Asia. “There is strong and growing demand in Asia across all of our key powders markets, and this added capacity will enable us to supply the region from within the region,” said Erwoan Pezron, senior vice-president for high performance polymers.

While Arkema has not quantified nameplate capacity for either project, it said previously that the Singapore investment would increase its overall output of bio-based PA 11 resin by 50%. Both projects are part of the French player’s EUR 450m exceptional capital spending budget earmarked for expansion in Asia and will add “significant flexibility” to its global supply chain, Pezron said. According to Plasteurope.com’s Polyglobe database (www.polyglobe.net), the company can produce PA 11 resin in Serquigny / France and at a US site in Birdsboro, Pennsylvania.

The Singapore facility will be Arkema’s second production base for 11-aminoundecanoic acid, complementing its existing unit in Marseille / France. The company gained its Asian presence for the bio-feedstock in 2013 with the acquisition of a 25% stake in Ihsedu Agrochem, a subsidiary of its long-term, India-based castor oil supplier Jayant Agro-Organics (see Plasteurope.com of 16.04.2013).