Avantium improves cash position, doubles offtake agreements in first 6 months

The past six months have seen Avantium making ‘significant positive strides across our business’, said CEO Tom van Aken in a statement released earlier today.

Next to commencing construction of its commercial facility for the production of FDCA - a world first - the company has successfully improved its cash position and increased the number of offtake agreements from 5 to 10.

Total revenues increased in the first half of 2022 by 5% to €5.0 million compared to €4.7million for the same period in 2021; other income from government grants decreased by 3%, from €3.3 to €3.2 million.  The cash position was €72.1 million on 30 June 2022 (31 December 2021: €34.9 million), of which €20.7 million is ringfenced cash for the Avantium Renewable Polymers business unit to utilise for its operations and construction of the FDCA flagship plant. The improved overall cash position is primarily due to the successful €45 million capital increase by means of a public offering in April 2022.

FDCA is the key building block of the biopolyester polyethylene furanoate, or PEF. The new facility will allow us to accelerate commercialisation of our technology and make PEF widely available, noted Van Aken, adding that the equity offering in April 2022 has allowed us to ‘invest further in delivering rapid progress across our business’.

“We have also expanded our commercial partnerships, reinforcing both the value and huge potential of PEF,” he stated.

The new partnerships have been entered into with, among others, the Danish brewer Carlsberg and with Swiss masterbatch producer Sukano, as well as just this past month with  LVMH and AmBev.

AmBev, the Brazilian brewing company, part of the AB InBev Group, the largest beer company in the world, will purchase PEF, which is a 100% plant-based and recyclable alternative to plastic - from Avantium’s flagship plant and will use it to make bottles for its soft drinks portfolio. The companies have worked closely together over the past year to develop multilayer bottles for AmBev soft drinks, where PEF is used as a 100% plant-based and recyclable high-barrier liner in PET bottles. In addition to the sustainability benefits, PEF also has excellent functional advantages, such as outstanding barrier properties. PEF’s oxygen barrier is ten times better than PET, and its CO2 barrier is sixteen times better. This not only leads to a longer shelf life but also maximises the taste and fizziness of the soft drink.

With the conditional offtake agreement signed between Avantium and world luxury goods leader LVMH Group, LVMH Perfumes & Cosmetics Houses has secured a fixed volume of PEF from the new flagship plant for its cosmetics packaging. Together, LVMH and Avantium have assessed the potential of Avantium’s PEF as a sustainable packaging solution for LVMH beauty brands, which includes Parfums Christian Dior, Givenchy Parfums, Guerlain and many others. With those test results proving successful, LVMH Perfumes & Cosmetics Houses has now decided to sign an offtake agreement, as the first luxury cosmetics company.

Avantium expects to open the FDCA Flagship Plant by the end of 2023, enabling the commercial launch of PEF from 2024 onwards.