I hate posting this kind of news but I’m still a reporter at heart so I just hope that these two companies will resolve their issues about Synvina, the joint venture formed by BASF and Avantium. The JV aims to set up a 50 ktpa FDCA (furandicarboxylic acid) reference plant at BASF’s site in Antwerp, Belgium. FDCA is a chemical building block and one of the precursors in making PEF (polyethylene furanoate), a sugar-based polyester resin that is being touted as an alternative to PET.

According to a recent announcement from Avantium, the companies disagree on the timing for the fulfillment of the criteria to invest in the commercial-scale plant for FDCA.  After an internal strategic review, BASF has reportedly served a notice to Avantium that if the investment criteria are not fulfilled by 5 December 2018, it is entitled under the JV agreement to exit from Synvina.

In January 2018, Synvina announced the delay of its commercialization timeline by 2-3 years. The reference plant is expected to be operational in the 2023-2024 timeframe. The JV intends to subsequently license the YXY technology to BASF and others to enable the global industrial scale production of FDCA and PEF.

BASF asserts that fulfillment of the investment criteria for the reference plant must be assessed in the fourth quarter of 2018, as originally envisaged in the JV agreement.  Avantium said it disagrees with this interpretation of the JV agreement and is convinced that the extension of the PEF pilot phase logically necessitates a postponed final assessment.

The companies are said to be discussing possibilities for an amicable settlement to this difference of opinion.  Avantium’s CEO Tom van Aken said they were surprised by BASF’s position as Synvina is said to ahead of the timeline for resolving the technical challenges that led to the postponement announced in January.