Arkema signs vital HF supply deal
3rd June 2020
FRANCE: Arkema will invest $150m in a deal with Canadian fertiliser company Nutrien for the supply of hydrogen fluoride, a major component in the production of HFC and HFO refrigerants.
The long-term supply deal will secure a competitive access to anhydrous hydrogen fluoride (AHF) for Arkema’s Calvert City, Kentucky, production site.
As part of this agreement, Arkema will invest US$150m in a 40kt/year AHF production plant at Nutrien’s site in Aurora, North Carolina, scheduled to start up in the first half of 2022. Arkema says about half will be used for the production of high added value polymers and fluoro-derivatives, and the remainder for the production of low GWP fluorogases.
According to Arkema, the deal also has benefits for the environment. The AHF will be produced using an element that occurs naturally in the phosphate that Nutrien uses to manufacture its products, replacing the more usual source of mined fluorspar. Nutrien will recover the fluoride from its process and convert it to AHF at its Aurora site.
