BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) and Avantium (Amsterdam, the Netherlands; www.avantium.com) announced the formation of a new joint venture (JV) for the production and marketing of furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA), which is produced from renewable resources, as well as the marketing of polyethylenefuranoate (PEF) based on the new chemical building block FDCA.
The aim of the new JV, to be named Synvina and headquartered in Amsterdam, is to build up world-leading positions in FDCA and PEF. It is planned to invest a medium three-digit million Euro sum to build a reference plant with an annual capacity of up to 50,000 metric tons per year (m.t./yr) at BASF’s Verbund site in Antwerp, Belgium, and to license the technology for industrial-scale production. Synvina will use the YXY process developed by Avantium for the production of FDCA.
Synvina will continue Avantium’s established partnering activities with leading brands associated with FDCA and PEF. The goal of the cooperation platform is to develop a complete supply chain for PEF as sustainable bio-based packaging material. Together with Toyobo, the companies will jointly boost the PEF polymerization and further develop PEF films for food packaging, in electronics applications such as displays or solar panels, industrial and medical packages. With Mitsui, Synvina will work on developing PEF thin films and PEF bottles in Japan. Furthermore, Synvina aims to continue the development partnerships with The Coca-Cola Company, Danone, ALPLA and other companies on the Joint Development Platform for PEF bottles.
“With Synvina we’ll enter the promising business with FDCA and PEF and to support our customers in the various industries to create value. We strongly believe that the future belongs to these products based on renewable resources. They combine superior characteristics with a production process based on renewable feedstock”, said Dr. Stefan Blank, President of BASF’s Intermediates division. “Synvina is an innovative, entrepreneurial and highly competent, young company with an excellent starting position from which to build a globally leading role in FDCA and PEF.”
“FDCA is a sleeping giant with huge potential. Although it was first produced in the 1950s, it has never been successfully developed and brought to market until now”, said Tom van Aken, Chief Executive Officer of Avantium, and continued: “I strongly believe that Synvina will wake up that sleeping giant and make it available for industrial use. With the development of a proven FDCA production process, and the construction of a strong partnering and cooperation network, Avantium has provided Synvina with all necessary prerequisites. It will benefit from BASF’s expertise in market development and large-scale production and as a reliable chemical company in the business of intermediates and polymers.”