TAGS: Sustainability / Natural Solutions
Elkem has been announced as one of the winners of the “Resilience” scheme of the “France Relance” plan by the French government, providing financial support as the company accelerates its investments in specialty silicones production in Saint-Fons in the Rhône region.
Support from French Government
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Developing and sustaining high-performance silicone production capacities on our territory is a matter of technological sovereignty for France and for the European Union," said Agnès Pannier-Runacher, France's minister delegate for industry
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“They are strategic inputs for many industrial sectors. In this sense, I welcome Elkem's investments in its units upstream of the Péage-de-Roussillon platform, to which we are providing our support through the France Relance plan,” added Pannier-Runacher.
As part of its downstream production process, Elkem is accelerating a series of investments in specialty silicones units in Saint-Fons, in order to respond to the growth and changes in demand in several high-tech markets aligned with the challenges of sustainable development.
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The growth of silicones demand is supported by the green transition, where these materials provide essential properties and performances for electric mobility, the production of carbon-free energy, and sustainable construction, as well as a substitute for certain plastics,” said Frederic Jacquin, SVP for Elkem's Silicones division.
“Growth is strong and our European customers require more local capacity and quality for our specialty products, hence the acceleration of our substantial investments.”
These investments are aimed in particular at increasing production capacities while automating them, optimizing product quality and purity, and improving the environmental performance of certain key units of the Saint-Fons plant. They will be carried out in 2022 and 2023 with a range of 15 to 20 million euros.
Silicones bring unique and essential properties and performances to multiple specialty markets, including batteries for clean mobility, semiconductor assembly, technical textiles, release coatings, adhesives, as well as healthcare and medical devices.
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Source: Elkem