Clariant inaugurates CHF 100 million halogen-free FR plant in Daya Bay, China

Clariant marks another milestone in its China Strategy with the official opening of its new production facility for halogen-free flame retardants (FR) in Huizhou Daya Bay Economic and Technological Development Zone (Daya Bay Chem Park), Guangdong Province, on 12 October.

The Exolit OP flame retardant plant in Daya Bay, Huizhou successfully inaugurated.

Investing a total of CHF 100 million

With a CHF 60 million investment, the plant’s first production line will offer innovative and sustainable Exolit OP flame retardants and related technical expertise to support the growing demand on engineering plastics applications in E-mobility and electrical & electronic areas.

The new production plant in Daya Bay, Huizhou.

The new plant also supplements the production capacity of the company’s tow Exolit OP plants in Knapsack, Germany.

A second production line, with a further CHF 40 million investment, is under construction and expected to be onstream in 2024. In addition, the team at the One Clariant Campus in Shanghai will support customers in the joint development and in-application testing of flame retarded solutions.

Clariant’s Daya Bay site utilizes green electricity, enabling a significant reduction in CO2 emissions.

Increasing demand on halogen-free FR

In his speech and interview, Conrad Keijzer, CEO of Clariant, stated that China is one of the regions with the most rapid business growth for Clariant, with sales increase in 23% in 2022 and the revenue from Chinese market accounts for 11% of Clariant’s global revenue. The company’s aim is to raise the percentage to 14% by 2025.

Conrad Keijzer, CEO of Clariant, stated the rapid business growth in China.

Conrad Keijzer added that Clariant has invested more than US$320 million in China since 2020,, which represents the company’s confidence towards its China Strategy.

Enhancing product life cycle and performance after recycling

“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,” Angela Cackovich, President of BU Adsorbents & Additives, and Clariant EMEA Region, addressed.

Angela Cackovich, President of BU Adsorbents & Additives, and Clariant EMEA Region.

For engineering plastics, Exolit OP solutions fulfil needs for application safety improvements and the reliability of maintaining mechanical, electrical and fire retardancy performance properties over a product 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,” Cackovich explained.