On January 12, 2021, Celanese, a global chemical and specialty materials company, announced its intention to establish a world-scale multiphase liquid crystal polymer (LCP) polymerization plant in China to support the significant growth of its high value-added products. Vectra® And Zenite®LCP product line. Site selection is in progress, Celanese is considering existing and new locations to place its new LCP facilities.
Stefan Kutta, vice president of Celanese Engineering Materials, said: "5G, the'Internet of Things' and automotive electrification are just a few major trends driving the demand for materials that support device miniaturization, improved signal integrity, and circuit densification." LCP is uniquely qualified to address these challenging requirements, and this investment will support a reliable supply of LCP to a growing customer base and enable Celanese to achieve more growth in these exciting end uses."
The total scale of the investment is to support the production of approximately 20 tons of LCP per year. The first phase of the project is expected to go online in 2024. The increase in China's LCP aggregation capabilities will make Celanese the only asset in Asia and the Western Hemisphere, giving the company the unique ability to work closely with customers in multiple regions. Celanese currently has LCP polymerization capabilities in Shelby, North Carolina, and LCP complex capabilities in North America, Europe and China.
Therefore, Kuta concluded, “For many global electronics and automotive customers, China will still be a fast-growing manufacturing base, and the current global demand for LCP exceeds 50%. Chinese investment will enable Celanese in this Key regions continue to innovate with customers and meet our rapidly growing demand for LCP products."
VECTRA ® and ZENITE ® LCP are halogen-free, high-performance polymer families that provide environmentally friendly, thin-walled, high-temperature performance with particularly precise and stable dimensional applications.
