Joint Venture Paves the Way for Development of High-Value Fluorine Business in Asia.
Solvay announces today that it has signed an agreement with Zhejiang Lantian Environmental Protection Hi-Tech Co. Ltd for the creation of a joint venture for the production and supply of hydrogen fluoride (HF), an essential building block for many high-value added fluorinated products.

Pending the relevant regulatory approvals, the joint venture is scheduled to start operating in 2007, under the name Zhejiang Lansol Fluorchem Co. Ltd. The production unit, with a total annual production capacity of 20.000 tonnes, will be located in the Zhejiang Quzhou Hi-Tech Industrial Park, some 500 kilometres south-west of Shanghai. Lantian will own 70% of the joint venture, while Solvay will hold the remaining 30%.

The total amount of the investment will not be released.
The production of Lansol is essentially aimed at fulfilling the needs of Lantian and Solvay for their downstream activities, such as Solvay's future production facility for fluorinated chemical specialties in Onsan, South Korea, which is scheduled to start operations in 2007. Solvay has also recently announced the creation of a new world-class fluorinated polymer production unit in Changshu, China, which will be operational in the second half of 2007 and could rapidly expand by adding more products to its specialty polymer production capabilities.

"China is the world's largest producer of Fluorspar, the mineral needed to produce hydrogen fluoride; China and Asia are also the place where Solvay wants to grow its fluorinated specialties activities," explained Vincent De Cuyper, General Manager of the Chemical Sector, Solvay. "That is why the creation of Lansol is a new, important step in the implementation of our strategy of sustainable and profitable growth through geographical expansion," he added.

"We are also very fortunate to enter into an alliance with Lantian, whose economic, technological and environmental performances are best in class worldwide" concluded De Cuyper.

Zhejiang Lantian Environmental Protection Hi-Tech Co., Ltd. is a leading fluorochemicals producer, mainly devoted to the development and production of substitutes for ozone depleting substances. More than 60% of its products are exported to America, Asia and Europe.