There will be a furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) plant in the Netherlands after all, but it will be smaller than previously planned. Biopolymer specialist Avantium (Amsterdam / The Netherlands; www.avantium.com) says the capacity will be 5,000 t/y. The intended location is in Chemie Park Delfzijl (Farmsum / The Netherlands; www.chemieparkdelfzijl.nl). If the company can raise the necessary funds by the end of 2020, construction could begin in 2021. The production line for the precursor for polyethylene furanoate (PEF) could go into operation in 2023 – see Plasteurope.com of 02.07.2019.

According to Avantium, a little over two thirds of the approximately EUR 150m in required funding has already been secured. The company is contributing approximately EUR 35m itself, with the remainder to be provided by the EU, a regional consortium focused on the province of Groningen and the local port operator Groningen Seaport, as well as several other sources.

The operator will be the subsidiary Avantium Renewable Polymers – previously Synvina – the former joint venture between the Dutch company and BASF (Ludwigshafen / Germany; www.basf.com). The Ludwigshafen-based group decided to withdraw in early 2019 after a dispute regarding the timeline – see Plasteurope.com of 08.01.2019.