Netherlands-based Avantium Produces First Product at 5,000 tpa FDCA Plant
en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 28, Avantium's flagship FDCA plant in Delfzijl, the Netherlands, successfully produced its first batch of furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA), marking the project's transition from the previous whole-plant integrated start-up phase to the production start-up and product qualification phase. The plant has a designed capacity of 5,000 tpa. Avantium currently plans to continue producing subsequent batches and advance product quality qualification, with commercial sales targeted for the end of 2026.
This first production output was built on the completion of commissioning for all major process units. On September 7, Avantium completed commissioning of the purification unit, after the utilities, sugar dehydration unit and oxidation unit had already been started up or commissioned in succession. The FDCA production process consists of three main process stages: sugar dehydration, oxidation and purification. Avantium uses its YXY technology to convert plant-based sugars into FDCA.
The Delfzijl plant is located at Chemie Park Delfzijl. Construction was completed in October 2024, after which commissioning proceeded unit by unit. In August 2025, the sugar dehydration unit and related utilities were started up first; the oxidation and purification units were subsequently commissioned, and by September 2026 the plant entered integrated start-up, ultimately producing the first batch of FDCA.
When the final investment decision was made in 2021, Avantium had already completed the engineering plan, raw material supply chain and partial product offtake arrangements, and had secured €90 million in debt financing commitments. In 2022, the project reached financial close, with financiers including ABN AMRO, ASN Bank, ING, Rabobank and Invest-NL, after which plant construction formally began.
Avantium plans to use FDCA to further produce PEF polymer. As the core monomer of PEF, FDCA will subsequently enter the polymerization stage and customer qualification process. The company's current start-up plan is to gradually shift from batch production to continuous operation, and it is expected to take 12 to 24 months from plant start-up to reach the full designed capacity of 5,000 tpa. Product qualification and operational optimization still need to be completed before commercial sales begin.
