Fluoropolymer additions and deletions in Alabama

Daikin plans to spend $195 million to expand fluoropolymer production in Decatur, Alabama. The expansion, set to get underway early next year, will increase polytetrafluoroethylene and melt resin capacity so the Japanese firm can make a larger variety of polymers for high-value applications. Meanwhile, at its nearby site, 3M says it has temporarily idled “certain manufacturing processes” related to fluoropolymers while it works with regulators “on previously disclosed issues.” In June, the firm acknowledged that it illegally released a perfluorinated chemical into the Tennessee River.