French polymer producer SNF is investing $1.2 billion over three years to meet demand for polyacrylamide (PAM).

SNF is adding 75,000 t/y of powder-grade PAM at plants across several regions by the end of 2020. This is on top of the 75,000 t/y of new capacity it has added globally during the past two years to meet rising demand for enhanced oil recovery applications.

In addition, the company is aiming to expand capacity for emulsion-grade PAM in the US to 1 million t/y by the end of 2020. An expansion of 100,000 t/y is also due for completion early in Q4 2019. SNF has already added 500,000 t/y of emulsion-grade capacity in the US with another 100,000 t/y outside the region to meet demand for fracking.

To support the growth in polymer production, SNF is investing in extra upstream capacity. In the US market, SNF is adding 50,000 t/y of Adame cationic acrylic monomers to its existing global capacity of 160,000 t/y by the end of 2022. This project follows a recently completed expansion in China, which added 40,000 t/y of Adame monomers.

The company is also adding another 100,000 t/y (expandable to 200,000 t/y) of acrylamide monomer output in the US in 2021.

SNF said it is the world’s leading manufacturer of water-soluble polymers and associated monomers with a turnover of $3.5 billion. It has major production sites in the US (Riceboro, Georgia; Plaquemine, Louisiana; and Pearlington, Mississippi), France and the UK, and in Asia (China, India and South Korea), along with many smaller plants around the world.