Avantium N.V., a leading company in renewable and circular polymer materials, today announces that it has successfully produced the first batch of furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) at its FDCA Flagship Plant in Delfzijl, the world's first commercial-scale plant for the production of FDCA. The production of the first batch of FDCA marks a major start-up milestone for the FDCA Flagship Plant and follows the successful commissioning of all major process units. It paves the way for ramping up toward commercial sales, anticipated to start at the end of 2026.
The production of the first FDCA batches represents an important step in validating Avantium's proprietary FDCA technology under commercial operating conditions. Avantium will now focus on a disciplined product qualification and operating program, to ensure its product meets customer specifications, progressing from batch toward continuous operations.
Tom van Aken, CEO at Avantium, commented: "Producing the first FDCA at our Flagship Plant is a significant achievement and an important milestone for Avantium. This achievement marks the transition from commissioning activities to operational start-up and qualification. Our teams have worked tirelessly to reach this point, and I would like to thank everyone involved for their dedication and commitment. Our focus now shifts to optimizing operations, producing additional FDCA, completing qualification activities and preparing for commercial sales which we expect toward the end of 2026."
A successful start-up and qualification process is expected to provide commercial-scale validation of Avantium's YXY® Technology for the production of FDCA and PEF and support the advancement of licensing discussions with prospective partners worldwide. Avantium continues to expect ramp-up to full design capacity to take place over a period of 12-24 months following plant start-up.