While Christian County prepares its own electric vehicle battery production plans through Ascend Elements and other companies, another industry in west Kentucky is also upping its efforts.
According to The Lane Report, Calvert City’s Arkema Group — just 45 minutes from Cadiz — plans to invest more than $20 million to improve its existing footprint.
The French specialty materials maker will increase PVDF, or polyvinylidene fluoride, production capacity, and the move is being made to increase demand — demand that is growing, officials say, due to the need of locally manufactured high-performance resins for lithium-ion batteries, as well as the growing market for semiconductors and cables.
In 2018, Arkema increased its production efforts by 20%, and in 2023, the industry reported more than $9 billion in sales. With operations in more than 55 countries and 21,100 employees nationwide, the plant has a long history of manufacturing.
This 15% capacity expansion will focus on innovative PVDF grades designed to support the manufacture of electric vehicles (EV) and energy storage systems with improved sustainability profiles, as well as growth in local manufacturing by customers in other strategic markets.
PVDF is a plastic with many uses, including monofilament fishing line, due to its chemical resistance, abrasion resistance, and stability under exposure to ultraviolet light.
Common uses include: pipes and tubing; structural equipment and construction materials; electrical engineering and microelectronics; power plant operation; chemical material handling and productions; pharmaceutics, health, high purity and food grade scenarios.
Startup at higher production levels is planned for mid-2026, just in time for North America to ramp up production in its gigafactories.
