Celanese has announced the ‘addition of a new GUR ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene production line (UHMW-PE)’ at its Bishop manufacturing complex in Texas, US.
The expansion is expected to support significant growth of the company’s portfolio of GUR engineered materials.
“Electric vehicle demand is expected to have a compounded annual growth rate of greater than 25% through 2025, resulting in strong demand for Celanese GUR for lithium-ion battery separators,” Celanese Engineered Materials senior vice-president Tom Kelly said.
“Customers rely on Celanese for a reliable supply of GUR that meets very stringent quality standards, and our capacity expansion at our Bishop integrated chemical complex will enable Celanese to continue to support a growing and diverse customer base and respond to the increasing need for speciality materials such as ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene.”
“The explosive growth in electric vehicle sales around the world demonstrates that lithium-ion battery separator demand will experience significant growth in Asia and in Europe over the next five years. Celanese, as a reliable materials partner for our customers, is committed to investing further in local manufacturing capabilities to offer unmatched security of supply,” Kelly added.
According to the company, the new production line at the Bishop manufacturing facility is expected to add about 15,000 tonnes per annum of GUR product capacity by early 2022.
In June last year, Celanese completed the expansion of GUR capacity at its Nanjing, China, integrated chemical complex.
Celanese claims that it ‘continues to be the only truly global producer’ of UHMW-PE in the regions of Asia, North America and Europe.
In May, Celanese signed a Memorandum of Understanding to supply vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) to China-based Anhui Wanwei Group.