BASF and Avantium have formed Synvina, a joint venture (JV) for the production and marketing of biobased chemical intermediary furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA). Plans for a 50 000 tonne per annum FDCA facility to be built at BASF's Verbund site in Belgium.
Germany-headed BASF, the Germany-headed global chemical major and Dutch renewable chemistry company Avantium, have announced the establishment of a joint venture (JV) for the production and marketing of furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) from renewable resources such as plant based sugars. FDCA is a chemical intermediary used in the production of polyethylenefuranoate (PEF) also to be marketed by the new JV.
Called “Synvina”, the JV will be based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands with the aim of developing pole positions in FDCA and PEF, not least through licensing the technology for industrial-scale production. According to a statement, a “medium three-digit million EUR” investment into a 50 000 tonne per annum reference plant for FDCA using the YXY process developed by Avantium, is planned. The plant is to be built at BASF’s Verbund site in Antwerp, Belgium.
FDCA is used for the production of PEF, a polyester suitable for food and beverage packaging as well as for fibres for carpets and textiles. For the packaging industry, PEF offers better characteristics in comparison to conventional plastics, such as improved barrier properties for gases like carbon dioxide and oxygen, leading to a longer shelf life of packaged products. FDCA can also be processed to polyamides for engineering plastics and fibres, to polyurethanes for foams, coatings and adhesives and to esters for personal care products and lubricants.
5504/AS
