Chemours announces strategic review at European Advanced Performance Materials

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Chemours on Tuesday announced a strategic review of the asset footprint of its European Advanced Performance Materials (APM) business.

APM supplies fluoropolymers, fluoroelastomers, membranes and dispersions among other products. In Europe, the business has production sites in Mechelen, Belgium and Villers St Paul, France.

Chemours has already written down certain APM assets and put a previously announced capacity expansion for Nafion-brand ion exchange materials at Villers St Paul on long-term hold, CEO Denise Dignam said in a conference call.

Nafion materials are used in hydrogen production processes.

Third-party industry projections for hydrogen indicate lower end-market demand, slower market growth through 2030 and a more uncertain long-term growth trajectory beyond 2030, the company said.

Furthermore, Chemours has decided to exit its Surface Protection Solutions (SPS) Capstone business, affecting about 100 workers at Parkersburg, West Virginia; Deepwater, New Jersey; and Villers St. Paul, France.

The decision to exit the business is due to regulatory changes and uncertainties that have caused reduced demand and market deselection of telomer-based chemistries, making SPS economics unfavorable going forward, Dignam said.

Manufacturing of the products is expected to end by the end of Q2 2025, pending local regulatory approval.

Thumbnail photo: Chemours’ site in Dordrecht, the Nteherlands ( Source: Hollandse Hoogte/Shutterstock)