Leading specialty chemicals company Perstorp plans to have extra capacity of around 70,000 tonnes/yr. for production of carboxylic acids onstream during 2024. The investment will enable Perstorp to increase output significantly and strengthen its position as the sustainable solutions provider. Increased capacity will meet growing demand in various high-value applications, including non-phthalate plasticizers for PVC, engineered fluids for applications such as refrigeration lubricants, and various propionates used in food preservation and carboxylic acids for use in animal feed gut health and preservation products. Most of the output will be used in downstream production operated by Perstorp itself.
Perstorp will build a new plant on the site of its existing carboxylic acid production operation in Stenungsund, Sweden. Like the original unit, it will be capable of producing acids from C3 to C9 chemistry, significantly strengthening the company’s portfolio. Both plants will be fully integrated into Perstorp’s Oxo production platform.
The decision to go ahead with the capacity expansion comes during a period of high growth for Perstorp, which has maintained a strong position in its key markets despite disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. “The expansion fits with our strategy for growth and an increased emphasis on specialty products, and will reinforce our pioneering position in sustainable solutions for our key focus segments,” says Betty Lu, Vice President for Oxo chemicals at Perstorp.
“I am glad that our acid capacity expansion is now back on track, after a temporary delay due to COVID. This capacity investment will remove our last bottleneck and enable us to grow our unique non-phthalate plasticizer Pevalen™ and Pevalen Pro unconstrained in the coming years.”
Perstorp has a unique position among plasticizer producers in offering Pevalen, a high-performance polyolester plasticizer, ideal for sensitive close-to-consumer applications such as coated fabric and films and sheets. Pevalen meets growing calls for new-generation plasticizers and has performance advantages over some of the most commonly used plasticizer solutions in terms of efficiency and UV stability.
Perstorp also uses carboxylic acids for its in-house production of various grades of food preservative (Profina™ CP) and animal feed preservative (ProSid™ MI 208). It is the only company in the world making these products with upstream integration.
Valmira Özten, Vice President Business Manager for Formates & Propionates at Perstorp, says the company is witnessing strong growth in demand for both Profina and ProSid. As a result, the company is planning to significantly increase production capacity for calcium propionate, which is currently located in Castellanza, near Milan, Italy. New capacity could be onstream in early 2024. Various sites are under consideration. Perstorp markets its calcium propionates in numerous countries around the world.