France grants Elkem financial support for speciality silicones expansion

Oslo – Elkem ASA has been awarded a funding for its silicone expansion plans in France, through the French government’s “France Relance” recovery plan.

Elkem’s €36-million project to expand its upstream silicone intermediate units in Roussillon was named as one of the winners of the ‘resilience programme’ of the €100-billion recovery plan launched by president Emmanuel Macron, the manufacturer announced 17 Feb.

"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.

High performance silicones, the French minister went to say, are “strategic inputs” for many industrial sectors in the country.

“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,” she added.

Elkem did not provide further details on the size of the financial support.

The Norwegian materials supplier disclosed plans to expand the Roussillon site, in southern France, in October last year.

At the time, the company said the project would increase production capacity for silicone intermediates at the plant by 20 kilotonnes per annum (ktpa) to 100ktpa.

The investment will improve cost position and environmental performance through debottlenecking, better energy efficiency and upgraded wastewater treatment, it added.

Elkem said the project will further develop and expand its speciality business in EMEA and Americas, where it expects respective growths of 6.5% and 5.9% through to 2025.

In addition to the Roussillon investment, Elkem is also expanding its downstream production process in speciality silicones units in Saint-Fons, in Lyon.

The project includes a series of investments aimed, in particular, at increasing production capacities, automation, optimising product quality and purity, and improving the environmental performance of certain key units.

The investments will be carried out in 2022 and 2023 with a range of €15 to €20 million, Elkem said.

The expansion, said the supplier, will respond to the growth and changes in demand in several high-tech markets aligned with the challenges of sustainable development.

“The growth of silicones demand is supported by the green transition,” explained Frederic Jacquin, SVP for Elkem's Silicones division.

In particular, the materials provide essential properties and performances to the speciality markets, including batteries for clean mobility, semiconductor assembly, technical textiles, release coatings, adhesives, as well as healthcare and medical devices.

“Growth is strong and our European customers require more local capacity and quality for our speciality products,” Jacquin added.