Arkema doubles H2O2 capacity at Leuna  

Arkema (Colombes, France; www.arkema.com), the world’s third leading hydrogen peroxide producer, announces plans to double production capacity at its Leuna, Germany, site to 80,000 m.t./yr by mid-2010. With this capacity increase, representing a € 40-million investment, Arkema reaffirms its ambition to bolster its position among the world’s leading hydrogen peroxide producers with competitive and world-class facilities in each of its geographies. "Doubling the capacity of our Leuna facility in Germany, which should become effective by mid-2010, will allow Arkema to boost its positions in Europe and continue to meet the growing demand from its customers, in particular the paper industry. The plant, brought on stream in 1997, is ideally located to serve growing markets at the heart of Europe. This investment is part of our European development plan, initiated with the expansion of the capacity of our Jarrie plant, now in operation since Q4 2007", says Marie-Pierre Chevallier, Group President of Arkema’s Hydrogen Peroxide Business Unit. Following the expansion in 2005 of its production capacities in North America (increased by 20,000 m.t./yr), the doubling of capacity at the Shanghai plant, China, due…