Arkema Announces the Expansion of Its Organic Peroxides Site in China Whose Capacity Will Be Multiplied by 2.5

COLOMBES, France--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Regulatory News:

Arkema (Paris:AKE) announces a two-and-a-half-fold increase of its organic peroxide production capacities at its Changshu site in China. This investment of around €50 million will enable the Group to support its Asian customers in fast-growing markets, particularly in renewable energies.

Luperox^® brand organic peroxides are used as niche additives fulfilling a critical mission as reaction initiators for a wide range of polymers and in particular play an important role in the energy transition as vital components in the manufacture of photovoltaic panels. With this significant investment in Changshu (China), Arkema will support the strong expansion of Asian producers serving a fast-growing global market.

This expansion of the Group's organic peroxide activities in China complements the 70% increase in its organic peroxide capacity in India announced in 2022, as well as the doubling of capacity at the Luperox^® 101 plant in Günzburg (Germany) which started up this summer. These projects had notably enabled the industrial validation of several new and more efficient technologies, significantly reducing the environmental footprint of the organic peroxides business. The effective industrial start-up of the new Changshu plant expansion, for which the foundation stone was laid in September, is expected in early 2025.

"With this investment in China, we are strengthening our position as a major producer of niche additives for sustainable development, with an industrial expansion that will incorporate our most efficient technologies in terms of environmental footprint," stated Laurent Tellier, Senior Vice-President, Performance Additives.

Building on its unique set of expertise in materials science, Arkema offers a portfolio of first-class technologies to address ever-growing demand for new and sustainable materials. With the ambition to become in 2024 a pure player in Specialty Materials, the Group is structured into 3 complementary, resilient and highly innovative segments dedicated to Specialty Materials - Adhesive Solutions, Advanced Materials, and Coating Solutions - accounting for some 91% of Group sales in 2022, and a well-positioned and competitive Intermediates segment. Arkema offers cutting-edge technological solutions to meet the challenges of, among other things, new energies, access to water, recycling, urbanization and mobility, and fosters a permanent dialogue with all its stakeholders. The Group reported sales of around € 11.5 billion in 2022, and operates in some 55 countries with 21,100 employees worldwide.