Producer
Arkema SA (Kynar PVDF)
French specialty chemicals; Kynar brand PVDF resin is critical feedstock for hollow fiber and RO membranes; Calvert City KY US plant expanding 15%
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Kynar PVDF Resins (Battery Grade)
40%Kynar PVDF for Membranes
25%Kynar PVDF for Architecture & Coatings
20%Other Kynar PVDF Applications
15%
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Sourced claims about this company's role in supply chains, chokepoints, concentration, incidents, dual-use connections.
Did you know2023
Arkema's Kynar PVDF simultaneously supplies the commercial building facade coating supply chain (the same resin protects skyscraper exteriors for 40+ years) AND the lithium-ion battery supply chain (binding cathode electrodes in EV batteries) AND the water treatment membrane supply chain (the resin is spun into hollow fiber UF/MF membranes for drinking water and wastewater treatment). These three supply chains — commercial construction, electric vehicles, and water infrastructure — compete for Kynar PVDF capacity from the same Arkema facilities in Calvert City, Kentucky and Pierre-Bénite, France. When EV battery demand surged in 2021-2023, PVDF prices increased significantly, affecting both battery manufacturers and membrane producers who needed PVDF for hollow fiber production — demonstrating the shared upstream dependency. A building coatings resin invented in the 1960s for commercial architecture has become a critical material for the EV transition and for global water security, with demand from three completely different industries converging on a single specialty fluoropolymer from Arkema.
Arkema SA ↗Origin2023
Kynar PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride) was commercialized by Pennwalt Corporation in the 1960s under the Kynar brand name — Pennwalt (later renamed Elf Atochem and then Arkema when Total SA spun off its specialty chemicals) developed PVDF resin as a high-performance fluoropolymer with exceptional chemical resistance, UV stability, and piezoelectric properties. Kynar 500 became the standard resin for high-performance architectural coatings: the Kynar-coated aluminum and steel panels on commercial building facades that maintain their color and gloss for 40+ years without chalking or fading. Kynar is specified in the façade coatings of iconic buildings including Taipei 101, the Empire State Building renovation, and thousands of commercial buildings worldwide. The same PVDF resin chemistry that makes a 40-year building facade coating also became the standard binder for lithium-ion battery electrodes in the EV era: Kynar HSV900 and related grades dissolve in NMP solvent to bind cathode active materials (NMC, LFP) to aluminum current collector foil. Arkema's Calvert City, Kentucky PVDF plant is expanding by approximately 15% to meet demand from battery manufacturers — growth driven by EV battery production, not building facades.
Arkema SA ↗