September 18, 2020 – Clariant, a dedicated, sustainable, and innovative specialty chemical company, today announced that it will build a top-notch catalyst production base in China. This major investment will further strengthen Clariant's position in China and better serve and support the domestic booming petrochemical industry customers.
The new production base will be mainly responsible for the production of CATOFIN catalysts for propane dehydrogenation processes, which can be used to produce olefin products including propylene. Compared with other technologies, CATOFIN relies on its extremely high reliability and production efficiency to bring excellent annual output to propylene producers, thereby increasing the overall profitability of the device. The project is located in the Pinghu Dushan Port Economic Development Zone in Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province. Construction of the project will start in the third quarter of 2020. Clariant expects to start full production by 2022.
"We have identified the right business mix for Clariant’s focus on growth strategy, so it is now vital that we invest in such high-value core specialty chemical businesses, such as catalysts, in order to strengthen their market position as much as possible. . For Clariant, China is still a very attractive growth market. This investment will greatly strengthen Clariant’s positioning in the entire region and increase contact with customers. After Clariant’s integrated park, it will also become a branch of Clariant. Ryan is another cornerstone of its strategy execution from the edge to the core,” said Hans Bohnen, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Clariant.
The new plant in Jiaxing will be Clariant's catalyst business so far with the most digitalized production base, and the entire production process will integrate advanced automation systems. Upon completion, the production base will become Clariant's third catalyst plant in China. It will upgrade the existing catalyst operating network, which also includes a joint venture plant with North Huajin Group in Panjin, and Clariant's wholly-owned plant in Shanghai Jinshan.
Stefan Heuser, Clariant`s senior vice president and general manager of the catalyst business unit, explained the importance of the new plant, stating: “The Jiaxing CATOFIN catalyst plant is an important part of our China strategy and further strengthens our growing commitment to China. The promise of the propane dehydrogenation market. This is another example of our continued expansion of business coverage in the region, enhancing our local capabilities, and meeting customer needs."
China is one of the major producers of proprietary propylene in the world. China’s production accounts for approximately 50% of the world’s total production and is expected to continue to grow at an annual rate of 8%*. Therefore, the first phase of the construction of the new plant will focus on the production of CATOFIN catalysts to meet the needs of the Chinese propane dehydrogenation market. In the future, Clariant may expand the production capacity of the base to further provide catalyst technology related to the Chinese chemical industry.
Chen Zhipeng, vice president of Clariant’s catalyst business in China, talked about the focus on CATOFIN. He said: “Our excellent propane dehydrogenation catalyst is well-known in China and the world. Since 2017, CATOFIN has been adopted by 22 new projects. The newly increased annual production capacity of propylene exceeds 15 million tons. Among the numerous operating installations around the world, our customers have been able to meet or exceed 110% of the designed production capacity, achieve the expected production target and obtain a very high return on investment."
CATOFIN is an extremely reliable and efficient dehydrogenation catalyst for the production of olefins, such as propylene or isobutylene, from light paraffin feedstocks. The combination of the catalyst and Clariant's heating material can further improve the selectivity and output of the production device.