The US-based chemicals and specialty materials producer said the investments will support significant business growth and strengthen its commitment to being the world’s foremost emulsion polymers and VAM producer.

At its Nanjing site in China, Celanese will initially increase its VAM capacity by 50,000-60,000 t/y, ramping up eventually to an extra 90,000 t/y. The project, which Celanese said is made possible by its novel, next-generation catalyst and advanced technology package, is expected to lift annual nameplate capacity at the site from around 300,000 t/y to nearly 400,000 t/y. The company did not disclose when the new capacity will be available.

An expansion of acetic anhydride at Nanjing is also planned, raising production by 10,000 t/y to approximately 130,000 t/y by 2022.

“Celanese is the global leader by volume in the production of vinyl acetate monomer. Based on our capital cost and the efficiency of production, we believe we have the most advanced manufacturing and technical capabilities of any producer,” said Florian Kohl, vice president of Celanese’s global vinyl chain businesses.

Capacity expansions for vinyl acetate ethylene (VAE) emulsions will also be implemented at Nanjing and at Frankfurt, Germany. A new VAE reactor will be added to each site, increasing production at Nanjing by about 65,000 t/y and at Frankfurt by about 45,000 t/y, both due on stream by 2023.

The latter project builds on the company’s global vinyls expansion program that started in January 2020, encompassing expansions and debottlenecking at Nanjing and Geleen in the Netherlands that Celanese said are “progressing well.

To help drive growth of its VAE emulsions business, Celanese is also debottlenecking its European capacity for redispersible polymer powders, gaining approximately another 20,000 t/y of output by 2023.

The move follows the acquisition of the Elotex redispersible powders business from Nouryon in April 2020, adding production plants in Frankfurt, Geleen, Moosleerau in Switzerland, as well as in Shanghai, China.

Author: Elaine Burridge, Freelance Journalist