Solvay said the multi-year expansion plan will include capacity increases for nearly all of its sulfone products, including its Udel-branded polysulfones (PSU), Veradel polyether sulfones (PESU) and Radel polyphenyl sulfones (PPSU). In the first major investment step, output capability of PSU will rise by more than 25% by 2024 at the company’ US s site in Marietta, Ohio. The bulk will be completed by early 2023.

Production of dichlorodiphenyl sulfone (DCDPS), a key building block for an important common building block for all sulfone polymers, will be expanded by more than 25%, with new capacity at the Augusta, Georgia, coming on stream by end of 2022.

Key application market segment benefiting from the investments are to include hemodialysis, medical instruments and pharmaceuticals in both development and production, and water purification. Here the company expects strong double-digit growth in global demand, with the high-performance sulfone polymers also playing a growing role in residential and commercial heating and plumbing systems.

The capacity upgrades, which Carmelo Lo Faro, president of Solvay's Materials segment, says are an important step in Solvay’s strategy for future growth affirm its number one position in the US sulfone polymers market are aimed at addressing the growth potential of the products in high-performance life-saving and life-sustaining areas, such as healthcare, water purification and pharmaceutical processing.

Author: Dede Williams, Freelance Journalist