French speciality chemical company Arkema has started producing castor oil-based polyamide (PA11) at its plant on Jurong Island, Singapore.
The US$20M investment in the plant – the group’s largest to date – tripled its production capacity of Rilsan PA11, giving it the largest transparent polyamides production capacity in Asia, Arkema said on 13 January.
Arkema said the new unit would enable it to meet growing demand for sustainable high-performance transparent materials across key markets such as eyewear, consumer electronics, industrial filtration, healthcare devices and home appliances.
Previously, Arkema had been producing the chemical at its plant in Marseille, France.
“[The expansion] marks the next step in developing our key platform in Singapore, contributing to our strategy to develop local and competitive supply close to our customers in the region,” said Laurent Tellier, senior vice-president of high-performance polymers and fluorogases.
Following the start of production at its Singapore factory, which had been built to serve the Asian market, the French facility would continue to operate and serve the European, North American and Chinese markets, the company said.
Arkema has had a footprint in Asia for over three decades, starting in China in 1984. Its research centre in Changshu remains its largest in Asia and it produces partially bio-based curable resins from a plant in Foshan, according to a World Market Bio Insights report.
One of Arkema’s aims is to increase its share of revenue from biobased products, with its expertise in castor oil derivatives playing a key role, according to the 21 January report.
Headquartered in Colombes, near Paris, France, the company sourced its castor oil from Indian farms and the Singapore plant was close to local markets for speciality chemicals, the report said.
