Seqens plans to invest in a second production plant for isopropanol (IPA) in France, increasing global capacity by over 70%. This expansion will allow for the production of downstream specialty products like isopropyl acetate (IPAC) and diisopropyl ether (DIPE) to meet growing demand in various industries.
ECULLY, FRANCE - Seqens, a major European player in high value oxygenated solvents through its Solvents & Phenol Specialties Business Unit, plans to invest in a second production plant for isopropanol (IPA) on the Roussillon chemical platform, France.
With this expansion, Seqens' global annual production capacity of IPA will increase by more than 70%. The new unit, with a capacity of 50.000 metric tons per year, is planned to start up in 2021 and will benefit from an optimized production process based on the experience gained on Seqens' first production unit as well as competitive access to raw materials and energy to be supplied by the platform.
Thanks to this investment, Seqens will continue its downstream integration and will be able to meet further growing demand of IPA, including new high-end applications. This additional capacity will also allow the ramp up of the production of several downstream specialty products such as isopropyl acetate (IPAC) and diisopropyl ether (DIPE).
Isopropanol (IPA) is a solvent used in many industrial and consumer products. Seqens offers the highest quality products available on the market (Pharmaceutical, Cosmetic, Electronic and Technical grades) to serve the most demanding sectors, including pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, personal care, electronics and detergence.
Isopropyl acetate (IPAC) is used as a process solvent and in the extraction of organic products. Key applications include production of active pharmaceutical ingredients, inks for food packaging and production of cosmetics actives.
Diisopropyl ether (DIPE) is a high value solvent used as an extraction solvent in the pharmaceutical industry for manufacturing specific active ingredients. DIPE also plays a key role in the manufacturing process of numerous high value products such as coatings, resins, intermediates and high purity phosphoric acid.