Clariant held the joint groundbreaking ceremony of expansion projects at it Daya Bay manufacturing site in Huizhou, China. The company is set to expand its Care Chemicals facility at the site to boost its support for pharmaceutical, personal care, home care, and industrial application customers.

Besides, a second production line will be added at its future Additives plant for halogen-free flame retardants, currently being constructed at the site.

“We recently have stepped up our investments in China with our Innovation center in Shanghai and our new Catofin plant for Catalysts. Today’s ground-breaking ceremony for our expansion of the Care Chemicals facility and the second Flame Retardant line here in Daya Bay, confirms our commitment of being in China for China,” said Conrad Keijzer, CEO of Clariant, in his video of welcome remarks. “This supports our ambition to increase our share of sales in China from the current 11% to 14% of total sales in 2025.”

“We believe that stronger innovation capabilities and the increased manufacturing footprint in China will help us to increase the China sales contribution to the entire Clariant group from 10% to 14% by 2025, and the share of locally manufactured products from 35% to 50%,” added Andy Walti, Head of Clariant China & APAC.

He also emphasized that under the latest “Fringe to Core” strategy 2.0 version, which has the objective of implementing localization efforts in China, Clariant has the vision of supporting the high-quality growth of China with the company’s sustainable and innovative solutions.

Clariant management team together with local government officials, key customers and partners at the joint groundbreaking ceremony. （Photo: Clariant)

A new global hub for healthcare business support

The CHF 80 million investment in expansion of Care Chemicals facility in Daya Bay will see capacity increases for existing products as well as the introduction of new products by the end of 2024.

The Clariant Daya Bay manufacturing will become a new global hub for Clariant’s healthcare business support, speeding up the supply of high-quality ingredients for life-changing medicines.

By successfully obtaining the drug GMP certificate, the site has become the first API manufacturer in China with certified polyethylene glycol Polyglykol 3350.

Zhigang Miao, Head of Industrial Applications, Clariant Care Chemical, commented that the successful production and registration of the pharmaceutical grade of PEGs are great examples of how resilient and dedicated Clariant is to growing in its strategic dedicated business segment and supporting customers.

Clariant will also expand existing production capacity for its Ethylene Oxide Derivatives (EODs) and a broader chemical portfolio at Daya Bay. As a result, it will step up its production of more sustainable ingredients that can help customers advance their environmental targets and create differentiated, more sustainable solutions to meet sector demands.

The EcoTain-labelled, plant-based Hostapon mild surfactant, for example, supports Personal Care brands and formulators in developing milder, cleaner beauty in applications such as solid beauty bars, body washes and cream-type shampoos.

 Andy Walti, Head of Clariant China & APAC, delivered welcome remarks at the ceremony.

Two new production lines for halogen-free flame retardants

Daya Bay was home to Clariant’s first ethoxylation plant in Asia, the strategic move to enhance the plant follows several recent investments by the company at Daya Bay.

During the K 2022 held in October, Clariant announced it will add a second production line for halogen-free flame retardants at the Additives plant under construction at the Daya Bay manufacturing site. The new plant’s first line is due to open mid-2023 with the second line coming on stream during 2024.

Andy Liu, Head of Sales Greater China, BU Additives from Clariant, remarked that with the rapid development of electric vehicles and increasingly stringent safety regulations, the demand for high-performance flame retardants continues to increase in China. Clariant’s Exolit OP halogen-free flame retardants can meet such market demand and product requirements.