Responding to the fast-growing regional demand for polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), French specialty chemicals manufacturer Arkema (Colombes; www.arkema.com) has said it will speed up the development of its “Kynar” PVDF production plant in Changshu / China, scheduled to come on stream in March this year. Arkema first touted plans for the facility in 2007 – see Plasteurope.com of 04.10.2007. The French group also announced plans to raise the plant’s capacity by 50% by mid-2012.

“Asia is a key region for the ongoing rollout of our ‘Kynar’ PVDF commercial expansion strategy. This capacity increase will rank the Changshu plant as a world-scale site,” said Erwoan Pezron, global director of Arkema’s PVDF business.

PVDF polymers are used in drinking water filtration, as electrodes for lithium ion batteries and as protective films for the backsheet of photovoltaic panels, among others. Aside from Changshu, Arkema manufactures its “Kynar” range of PVDF resins in Pierre-Bénite / France and Calvert City / USA.