Global chemical and specialty materials company Celanese Corporation is to install a new ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMW-PE) production line at its Bishop, Texas, manufacturing facility to support the significant growth in demand from the electric vehicle battery market.
“Electric vehicle demand is expected to have a compounded annual growth rate of greater than 25% through 2025, resulting in strong demand for Celanese GUR [its own brand UHMW-PE] for lithium-ion battery separators,” said Tom Kelly, Celanese senior vice president, engineered materials.
“Customers rely on Celanese for a reliable supply of GUR that meets very stringent quality standards, and our capacity expansion at our Bishop integrated chemical complex will enable Celanese to continue to support a growing and diverse customer base and respond to the increasing need for specialty materials such as ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene.”
This new production line at the manufacturing facility is expected to add approximately 15kt per year of product capacity by the start of 2022.
“The explosive growth in electric vehicle sales around the world demonstrates that lithium-ion battery separator demand will experience significant growth in Asia and in Europe over the next five years. Celanese, as a reliable materials partner for our customers, is committed to investing further in local manufacturing capabilities to offer unmatched security of supply,” concluded Kelly.