Evonik invests more than €100M in isophorone facilities in China

Evonik Industries has commenced an integrated production complex for isophorone and isophorone diamine in Shanghai, China. The company has invested more than €100M in the facilities, which will have an output capacity of 50,000t/yr.
Construction in the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park (SCIP) took less than two years. Evonik primarily plans to use the output of the plants to serve customers in the coatings and paint, construction, adhesives and composite industry in Asia.
"The new plant continues our successful growth story in isophorone chemistry. We are now represented in the three major economic zones, Europe, NAFTA and Asia with fully backwards integrated production facilities to tap into attractive new growth opportunities,” said Patrik Wohlhauser, Member of the Evonik Industries Executive Board and COO.
Evonik has 50 years of experience with isophorone chemistry and continuously improves its process technologies. So far products based on isophorone (crosslinkers) were being manufactured in Marl and Herne, Germany and in Mobile, USA.
In addition to the new production complex, Evonik built an application technology service centre with state-of-the-art laboratories at the Xinzhuang site in Shanghai.
The global market for isophorone and its derivatives grows at a stronger annual rate than global gross domestic product, with Asia showing above-average growth. The demand is particularly driven by the megatrend of resource efficiency. Thus, composites, which are used, for instance, in lightweight construction for automotives, as well as in highly durable wind power stations, offer above average growth potential.
In addition, isophorone chemistry prolongs the life expectancy of heavily used surfaces, which reduces maintenance cost and often makes renovations superfluous.
Examples include floor coverings in parking garages, façades exposed to demanding climatic conditions or ships operating in salty ocean water.
Growth projections are also high for environmentally friendly coating technologies, such as UV-curing systems or solvent-free powder coatings.
Evonik markets its products under the brand names Vestamin, Vestanat, Vestagon and Vestasol.