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Clariant marked a new milestone in its China strategy with the official opening this month of its state-of-the-art production facility for halogen-free flame retardants in Daya Bay, Huizhou.

The $67-million investment into the plant’s first production line will provide local customers with access to innovative and sustainable Exolit OP flame retardants and related technical expertise to support the significant growth of engineering plastics applications in the e-mobility and electrical & electronics segments. A second line is under construction and expected to be onstream in 2024, representing a further $44 million investment.

Image Courtesy of Clariant

“Local production means we can improve cooperation and design tailored solutions as well as significantly reduce delivery lead times,” said Angela Cackovich, Clariant EMEA.

“With this world-class manufacturing plant, we strengthen our leading position and global competence in innovative and sustainable fire safety solutions,” commented Angela Cackovich, president of BU Adsorbents & Additives, and Clariant EMEA Region. “We have the proximity to better service customers in China and across the Asia Pacific region behind the innovative components, devices, and systems advancing technological developments in e-mobility, infrastructure, 5G communications, energy delivery, and more. Local production means we can improve cooperation and design tailored solutions to their developing needs as well as significantly reduce delivery lead times.”

The new plant will produce Clariant’s global range of patent-protected organo-phosphorus flame retardants and supplements the capacity of Clariant’s two Exolit OP plants in Knapsack, Germany. The team at the One Clariant Campus in Shanghai will support customers in joint development and in-application testing.

“Brands and equipment manufacturers are switching to non-halogenated flame retardants to address the challenges of increasing safety, sustainability, and technical performance requirements in e-mobility and electronics,” said Cackovich. “For engineering plastics, our Exolit OP solutions can help fulfil needs for application safety improvements and the reliability of maintaining mechanical, electrical, and fire-retardancy performance properties over a product’s life cycle and after recycling.

“Importantly, they also offer environmental and health profiles verified by third parties. By collaborating across value chains we can capture unmet needs as applications become more demanding, innovate faster together, and ensure the optimum solution to meet evolving regulatory and physical property as well as processing requirements,” said Cackovich.

Despite the challenges posed by delays in equipment delivery, travel restrictions, and unpredictable supply chain interruptions, the teams from Clariant China and Europe, local authorities in the chemical park, and external partners pulled together to ensure the project was accomplished within 18 months, on schedule and on budget. All 1.2 million man hours worked since construction began were accident-free.

The plant is operated by a 100-strong team of local employees and is located within the Huizhou Daya Bay Economic and Technological Development Zone (Daya Bay Chem Park) in Guangdong Province. Clariant’s Daya Bay site utilizes green electricity, enabling a significant reduction in Scope 2 (CO₂) emissions.