WILMINGTON, Del. — The Chemours Co. announced it is investing in large-scale manufacturing to expand supply of its Opteon™ family of refrigerants. Chemours will invest $230 million over three years to construct a new facility at its Corpus Christi site in Ingleside, Texas, with start-up expected in the third quarter of 2018. This investment will triple capacity of Opteon products.

The new site will use an innovative, patented process to manufacture Opteon YF (HFO-1234yf), a refrigerant with 99.9 percent lower global warming potential than the refrigerant it was designed to replace. Opteon YF is used in automotive air conditioning and in refrigerant blends for a range of applications.

“Opteon products were developed in response to increasingly stringent environmental regulations, and in many cases they perform better than the products they replace," said Mark Vergnano, president and CEO. “This is another step in our transformation plan, and is a shining example of how Chemours is investing in innovative growth opportunities as we become a higher value chemistry company, delivering essential solutions that improve the quality of life.”

The company said this investment will create the world’s largest facility for manufacturing hydrofluoroolefins (HFOs), and the location will allow Chemours to efficiently serve the growing market in North America and Europe, as well as the rest of the world.

Expanded capacity will enable Chemours to meet customer needs in the face of growing demand. The company estimates that 40 million cars using HFO-1234yf will be on the road by the end of 2017, growing to 140 million by end of 2020. The company predicts that 1,000 supermarket and commercial refrigeration systems worldwide will be using Opteon XP40 by the end of 2016, growing to as many as 10,000 systems by the end of 2020.

Chemours has commercialized Opteon products for use in automotive air conditioning, stationary and transport refrigeration, and chillers. The company has a development pipeline of additional Opteon solutions for stationary air conditioning, foam blowing agents, and waste heat recovery.

For more information, visit www.chemours.com.

Publication date: 5/11/2016

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