Celanese Signs Technology Licensing Agreement for Acetic Acid Route to Acrylic Acid

Mon, June 1 2020

A key step to commercialize acetic acid-to-acrylic acid technology

DALLAS & SHANGHAI--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Celanese Corporation (NYSE: CE), a global chemical and specialty materials company, today announced that its subsidiary, Celanese (Nanjing) Chemical Co. Ltd., has recently signed a tri-party agreement with SOUTHWEST INSTITUTE OF CHEMICAL CO., LTD. (SWCHEM), based in Chengdu, China, and YANKUANG LUNAN CHEMICAL CO., LTD. (LUNAN), based in Teng Zhou, China, to build a Pilot Scale-up Unit (PSU) in Teng Zhou, China, to test industrial scale production of acrylic acid using acetic acid as the principal raw material.

Celanese and SWCHEM are jointly developing an innovative technology of producing acrylic acid with the process of acetic acid formaldehyde condensation based on Celanese’s original proprietary research in this field. Under the terms of the agreement, LUNAN will build an industrial scale pilot plant to finish commercial production trials.

“I am delighted that the collaboration between Celanese and SWCHEM has enabled us to reach such a critical milestone in the development of this new technology to produce acrylic acid from acetic acid. This could create additional demand for acetic acid while also improving the supply options for acrylic acid consumers,” said John Fotheringham, Senior Vice President of Celanese’s Acetyls business.

“SWCHEM has a longstanding relationship with Celanese dating back to 2008,” said Mr. Chen Jiang, President of SWCHEM. “This agreement marks the expansion of our cooperation into deeper value chain of the acetyls industry.”

“We are excited to be part of a winning team,” said Mr. Liu Qiang, President of LUNAN. “The successful commercialization of this technology will promote organic growth of the acetic acid industry and LUNAN is proud to be part of this effort.”

Financial details of the agreement are not being disclosed at this time.

About SWCHEM

Southwest Institute of Chemical Co., Ltd. (Registered address: No.5, Gaopeng Avenue, hi-tech Zone, Chengdu) was founded in 1958 and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the China Haohua Chemical (Group) Corp. SWCHEM is a key Ministry of Chemical Industry R&D institute engaged in scientific research, technological development, engineering design, project contracts, technical consultation, manufacturing, and trade in technology. The institute is also a Key State Laboratory of Industrial Vent Gas Reuse, National Center of C1 Chemical Engineering Research and National Center of PSA Separation Engineering Research & Popularization. The Institute has long been engaged in research and development, technology transfer and product production of natural gas chemical, coal chemical, carbon-chemical, the purification and utilization of industrial vent gas, new energy sources and energy conservation, environmental protection, special-purpose gas and standard gas, chemical automatic control and instrumentation, special catalyst. As a partner, it is referred to as "SWCHEM" for short.

About LUNAN

Yankuang Lunan Chemical Co., LTD (Registered address: Lunan Hi-Tech Chemical Park, Mushi Town, Tengzhou City, Shandong Province) is a chemical enterprise under the Yankuang Group that specializes in chemical production and scientific research and development. The leading products are urea, methanol, acetic acid, polyoxymethylene and other products. The company has won the first prize of National Science and Technology Progress Award, the National May 1st Labor Certificate, first class safety standardization enterprise of the first batch of hazardous chemical enterprises in China, the national advanced environmental protection enterprise, the China Chemical Technology Innovation Demonstration Enterprise, and the Special Award of China Petrochemical Association Science and Technology Progress. Lunan achieved the honorary titles such as China's Advanced Unit for Energy Conservation of Industrial Production, Shandong Quality Management Award, Shandong Civilized Unit, and Shandong On-site Management Model Enterprise. As a partner, it is referred to as "Lunan " for short.

About Celanese

Celanese Corporation is a global chemical leader in the production of differentiated chemistry solutions and specialty materials used in most major industries and consumer applications. Our businesses use the full breadth of Celanese's global chemistry, technology and commercial expertise to create value for our customers, employees, shareholders and the corporation. As we partner with our customers to solve their most critical business needs, we strive to make a positive impact on our communities and the world through The Celanese Foundation. Based in Dallas, Celanese employs approximately 7,700 employees worldwide and had 2019 net sales of $6.3 billion. For more information about Celanese Corporation and its product offerings, visit www.celanese.com or our blog at www.celaneseblog.com.

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Investor Relations
Abe Paul
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Source: Celanese Corporation