Perstorp to double carboxylic acids

Perstorp plans to roughly double its carboxylic acids capacity by 2024, by adding a second 70,000 tonnes/year facility at its main site in Stenungsund, Sweden. Like the original unit, this will produce acids from C3 to C9 chemistry and will be fully integrated into the company’s oxo production platform.

The decision, delayed by COVID, came in response to meet growing demand in areas such as non-phthalate plasticisers for PVC, engineered fluids for refrigeration lubricants, animal feed gut health, and preservation products propionates for food preservation. Perstorp will use most of the output itself in downstream products.

The company is also planning to “significantly” increase production capacity for calcium propionate in the same time frame. This is currently made at Castellanza, near Milan, but other sites are also under consideration.