Producer
Arkema S.A.
French specialty chemicals company (Euronext: AKE, HQ Colombes, Hauts-de-Seine; ~€10B revenue); produces Encor® acrylic emulsion binders for architectural paints, construction adhesives, and industrial coatings under its Coating Resins division. Arkema was created in 2004 when Total (French oil major) spun off its specialty chemicals operations — inheriting Elf Atochem's acrylic chemistry platform. Arkema is also the world's leading producer of PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride) polymer — used in battery electrode binders, solar panel backsheets, and architectural coatings. The same Arkema that makes the acrylic emulsion in architectural paint also makes the PVDF binder in electric vehicle battery electrodes and the solar panel protective layer on rooftop solar installations.
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2 inputs Arkema S.A. supplies
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PVDF & Fluoropolymers
25%Coating Resins (Acrylic)
20%Adhesives & Sealants
20%Advanced Materials & Specialty Polymers
25%Fluorochemicals & HFO
10%
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Did you know2023
Arkema's Kynar PVDF is simultaneously: (1) the binder polymer in EV lithium-ion battery cathodes (NMC, NCA, LFP -- all need PVDF to hold electrode active material to the current collector), (2) the protective backsheet film on solar panels that prevents UV degradation over 25-year panel lifetimes, and (3) an architectural coating additive for weather-resistant building facades. The EV industry, the solar energy industry, and the construction industry share Kynar PVDF as a critical material from a single French company that the clean energy transition has made unexpectedly strategic. Chinese PVDF producers (Solvay, Kureha, and Chinese SOEs) have expanded capacity specifically to serve EV battery demand. The PVDF market that Arkema historically dominated has now become geopolitically contested as EV battery production demands outstrip Arkema's European and US capacity, and Chinese PVDF enters the supply chain. The same material supplies fossil fuel-era construction coating demand AND clean energy transition battery and solar demand -- an unusual intersection of old-economy and new-economy applications.
Arkema S.A. ↗Origin2023
Arkema was created in 2004 when TotalFinaElf (French oil major) spun off its specialty chemicals operations -- inheriting Elf Atochem's chemistry platform including acrylic chemistry (from Rohm & Haas precursor technology licensed through Elf), fluoropolymers (PVDF under the Kynar brand, acquired through Elf's Atofina operations), and polyamide specialties. Total's logic in creating Arkema as a separate entity mirrors what ExxonMobil, Shell, and other majors did in divesting non-core chemical specialties: focus on hydrocarbon extraction and refining, spin off specialty chemicals to entities that can attract specialist management and capital allocation. Arkema has grown substantially through acquisition post-spinoff, most notably the 2012 acquisition of Bostik adhesives, the 2019 acquisition of ArrMaz specialty chemicals, and the 2021 acquisition of Ashland's performance adhesives. Arkema's Kynar PVDF brand is now the most critical fluoropolymer in the clean energy transition -- EV batteries and solar panels both depend on PVDF that comes primarily from Arkema (French) and Chinese producers.
Arkema S.A. ↗