Ascend: Helping customers achieve "carbon neutrality" with innovative products

As the world's largest, highest level and most professional representative plastics industry exhibition, 2022K was recently held
in Düsseldorf, Germany.
Under the theme "Together Together", Ascend Performance Materials presented a range of innovative material products and sustainable solutions
at K.
Recently, Wu Xianliang, Senior Vice President and Managing Director of Ascend Asia Pacific, Qin Huaili, Technical Director of Ascend Asia Pacific, were interviewed, and Yuan Jun, Commercial Director of Engineering Materials of Ascend Asia Pacific, conducted a live broadcast
at the K exhibition.

Collaborate with customers to achieve a low-carbon footprint

Wu Xianliang first introduced that as a professional manufacturer of engineering materials, Ascend is committed to reducing its carbon footprint and has committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2030, and we are confident that we will achieve this goal
ahead of schedule.

Wu said that Ascend has invested more than $200 million in sustainable projects, including the combined heat and power plant at the Decatur site, Chocolate Bayou's acrylonitrile production base realizes solar power supply, the Pensacola production site optimizes energy use and emission reduction, and the Suzhou production site upgrades wastewater treatment and power saving equipment to minimize the environmental impact
of production operations.

Regarding the goal of "carbon neutrality", he proudly said that it is not easy for Ascend to achieve carbon neutrality at all 7 modified material production sites worldwide
.
In the industry, Ascend became the first integrated polyamide PA66 producer to decarbonize key production operations and achieved ISCC+ certification
for bio-based raw materials.

He added that we are also constantly developing new products to help our customers reduce their carbon footprint
.
In the past two years, we have spent a lot of effort on electric vehicles to support improving the efficiency and safety
of electric vehicle power batteries.
On the other hand, these are some of the measures
we take indirectly to help our customers and help the entire industry to reduce carbon emissions.

Innovative products for sustainable development

At K, Ascend presented a range of innovative products to support its customers' sustainable development, including solutions
for the circular economy.
Yuan Jun said, first of all, we officially launched a series of recycled polyamide products, including pre-consumer recycled PIR materials and post-consumer recycled PCR material combinations, which can be customized according to customer requirements, and the utilization rate of recycled materials can reach up to 100%; Reliable performance even in harsh application environments and a low carbon footprint are attractive to many customers
at K.

Secondly, we are developing some bio-based PA66 products
.
At present, the entire PA66 industry chain from upstream to downstream, global production mainly relies on petrochemical sources, and we will launch some bio-based intermediates and PA66 resins in the near future, all the way to the final engineering materials, in the industry, we can be said to be the first to provide customers with such solutions
.

Finally, we continue to innovate and continue to enhance our focus on "steel instead of plastic"
with new products.
The new engineering material Panduit, Vydyne®, was introduced at the show AVS vibration and noise reduction polyamide is used in engine mount brackets, transmission brackets, battery brackets and other components of new energy vehicles and fuel vehicles, including air conditioning motor motor brackets, which can reduce weight by 40% or even 60%.

As we all know, cars produce noise during driving, electric vehicles are particularly prominent in some high frequency bands, AVS can help reduce noise by up to 80%, this product is very revolutionary
.

In addition, Ascend has highlighted a cross-linked polyamide, which can withstand direct flame for up to 15 minutes
at a high temperature of 1100 degrees.
Compared with traditional engineering materials or aluminum materials, it has better extreme fire resistance and high temperature resistance, and can provide better protection performance and build safety barriers
on new energy vehicles and higher voltage electrical materials.

At the same time, Ascend also has another ultra-high temperature resistant polyamide, which uses PA66 as the base material, breaks through the long-term operating temperature limit and has excellent toughness, which is an ideal alternative to the existing conventional PA46 and is becoming the material
of choice for high temperature cable ties and fasteners.

Speaking about Ascend's products and technological innovations, Qin Huaili also said that Ascend has built a new Asia-Pacific Innovation Center (AAIC)
in Changshu.
The center began construction in October last year, and although it has experienced factors such as epidemic control, it was officially put into operation
in April this year.
The center has four main missions: first, it can respond more quickly to the needs of local and Asian customers; Second, in response to the personalized needs of customers, Ascend can develop new products and promote them to other regions around the world; The third is to support the localized production of global products; The fourth is to carry the new global demand for electronic and electrical and become the center of
global electrical energy.
At present, the center has commercialized a number of products and began to serve local customers
.

Confidence in the Chinese market has not changed

The two important factors of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and epidemic control have had a certain impact
on the economy.
However, Wu believes that there will certainly be challenges, but for Ascend, the opportunities are even greater
.
Wu Xianliang said that Ascend focuses on creating PA66 product solutions, and makes this field refined and specialized
.
Due to Ascend's modified polymer integration and deep technical reserves, these challenges are opportunities
for Ascend.

Commenting on the operating results in the first half of the year, Dr.
Wu said that like other companies, we have encountered certain challenges, but the business is still growing
steadily.
In terms of the automotive business, the performance of automobiles this year has increased considerably compared with the same period last year, and in terms of electric vehicle business, Ascend has developed very rapidly in the past two years and is the fastest growing area
.

So far this year, although Ascend has been affected to some extent, it is still growing steadily, which is why Ascend continues to invest in Lianyungang
.
According to Wu Xianliang, the construction of the hexanediamine plant in Lianyungang is in full swing and is expected to be officially put into operation
at the end of 2023.
In addition, Ascend has added two new lines to its Changshu plant in Suzhou and now has four production lines
.

Wu Xianliang finally stressed that Ascend's confidence in Asia and China has not changed, and the current difficulties are only temporary
.
"As the epidemic gets better and better, the economy will gradually recover
.
Overall, we think the economy will be better
next year and the year after that.
”