Perstorp invests SEK 250 million in new acid plants

30-Aug-2004

specialty chemicals group Perstorp has decided to invest SEK 250 million in two new acid plants, in order to increase capacity for the production of acids at the company's plants in Perstorp and Stenungsund. The market for carboxyl acids is expected to grow sharply in the years ahead and the investment decision has been made to enable Perstorp to satisfy the increasing demand.

"The expansion will be based on Perstorp's proprietary technology. Production in the formic acid plant in Perstorp will be increased from 25,000 metric tons per year to 40,000 tons. In Stenungsund, capacity for the production of 2-ethyl hexane acid (2-EHA) will be raised from 50,000 tons to 80,000 tons," says Lennart Hagelqvist, Executive Vice President Operations within the Perstorp Group, who emphasizes that the investment will also increase the quality of the manufactured products.

The new formic acid plant in Perstorp will enable integration with the plant that produces the input material formate, a development that will enable better utilization of the natural flow within the process. This also means that Perstorp will fully complement a leading position in the formate market with strengthened formic acid production.

"The investments will strengthen our portfolio of acid products. Which means that we will be able to retain our market-leading position as a producer of 2-ethyl hexane and also to find new application areas for the product," says Inge Pettersson, Executive Vice President Marketing & Sales Performance Chemicals within the Perstorp Group. "This will give rise to a strategic strengthening that will facilitate continued growth, particularly of sales to the leather industry, where formic acid and formates are key products, and to the feed industry, where formic acid and propionic acid are used."

The expansion will be implemented in stages, with the goal of having the newly built plants ready for operation at the end of 2005.

https://www.chemeurope.com/en/news/39329/perstorp-invests-sek-250-million-in-new-acid-plants.html