Arkema to invest Euro 200 million in two plants for 1234yf refrigerant gas

Arkema has selected Changshu (near Shanghai) in China for its first facility in Asia to manufacture 1234yf refrigerant gas, as a part of its strategy announced on September 4, 2013 to construct a 1234yf Low Global Warming Potential (LGWP) refrigerant gas production plant. As per the strategy, Arkema is executing a two phase strategy based on proprietary technology: this first phase, based in Asia, is a project capable of supplying the emerging needs for 1234yf and a second phase investment in Europe with the objective to fully replace R134a after 2017.
 
“Yes in China, on our industrial platform of Changshu near Shanghai, where we already produce refrigerants. The choice of this place is because there is a sourcing in China of a key raw material (HFP). Changshu then will export its 1234yf production to Europe where the market will be. In a second phase, we will have another plant in Europe (the exact place is not decided yet) that will start up in 2017,” said an Arkema official responding to an email query.
 
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This announcement is very important for the car makers market in Europe as the current gas used in Europe in cars (R134a) will be forbidden in all the new cars in Europe, according European directive. Currently, only Honeywell (HW) has a production site (in China with DuPont), so from 2016, there will be HW-Dupont and Arkema.
 
Arkema is reportedly investing about Euro 200 million in the two units – China and Europe. “For the Chinese (start up in 2016) unit and the European one (start up in 2017), we will invest about Euro 200 million which is a very important investment at Arkema's scale,” added the official.