Work will begin shortly to start ground works and construction of a new Accoya wood production facility in Kingsport, Tennessee, USA, as part of the Accoya USA, LLC joint venture between Accsys Technologies PLC and Eastman Chemical Company. Engineering has already commenced and orders for long lead-time equipment have already been placed, and the first Accoya ‘made in the USA’ is expected to reach the market in 2024.
All environmental and construction permits are already secured, and the project is expected to create approximately 50 full-time jobs in its first phase, and more as it becomes operational as a production site. Hundreds of roles will also be created during construction and commissioning. A total of $80 million in bank financing has been secured in addition to the equity provided by Accsys and Eastman, with a total project cost of approximately $136 million.
Currently Accsys produces ~60,000 m3 of Accoya per year at its existing site in Arnhem, the Netherlands. This will rise to ~80,000 m3 as the company completes final aspects of construction and commissioning a fourth acetylation reactor there. The Accoya USA facility will initially have an annual production capacity of ~43,000 m3 (~18 million board feet) provided through two acetylation reactors, replicating Accsys’ proven-successful design, technology and processes at their Arnhem site.
Independent research has shown an achievable market in North America of at least ten times this initial capacity: between 440,000 m3 to 950,000 m3 per year. As with Accsys’ Dutch facility, the Kingsport plant design incorporates equipment and space to enable future expansion through adding more acetylation reactors.
Accoya USA, LLC is a joint venture between Accsys (60%) and Eastman Chemical Company (40%), taking advantage and benefitting from synergies between the two businesses’ respective strengths. Accsys is the only producer of acetylated wood in the world, with proprietary technology, processes and decades of know-how and proven success in the manufacturing, marketing and sales of the sustainable, ultra high-performance building material.
The Accoya USA facility will be built at and connected into the existing Eastman Kingsport site for seamless supply, integration and agreements in place for ‘closed-loop’ reuse and recycling of acetyls.
