Strong demand for electric heating makes Kanthal expand its silicon carbide production capacity

Publié 14 nov. 2023

Today producers of lithium-ion batteries, electronics and glass show a strong demand for new sustainable heating solutions. To meet the increased need, Kanthal will expand its silicon carbide heating element manufacturing facility in Perth, Scotland, and establish a new service center in Concord, NC, USA. The aim is to capture short to mid-term market growth in Europe and North America, and to support long-term product and application developments.

The Kanthal manufacturing site in Perth is home to the company’s Globar® silicon carbide (SiC) heating elements. These elements are used in heating applications up to 1,625°C/2,927°F and can replace gas burners, making the production more energy efficient whilst also lowering CO2 emissions. The strong global growth in lithium-ion batteries, electronics and glass drives an increased demand for Kanthal’s heating solutions. At the same time, energy-intensive industries like steel are looking to convert their heating processes from gas to electric solutions.

The total investment is approximately SEK 100 million between 2024 and 2025 and includes expanding the current premises in Perth with a 1,000 m2 manufacturing area, as well as new equipment, a new layout, and additional warehouse spaces. It will enable increased capacity and additional job opportunities with an incremental ramp up starting in 2024.

In conjunction with the Perth expansion, Kanthal is also establishing a new service center for silicon carbide heating elements in its existing site in Concord, North Carolina, USA. This will bring the company closer to customers, improving lead times, serviceability, and security of supply.

We see this investment as necessary to meet our customers’ future needs.

Caption Rickard Dahlgren, VP and Acting President of Business Unit Heating Systems at Kanthal.“We see this investment as necessary to meet our customers’ future needs. We expect a rapidly growing demand for our heating solutions, as they enable industries to make the green technology shift. We are also scaling up our production to enable new product and application developments that can cater for larger heating systems installations. The investment will ensure that we can capture the demand in Europe and North America,” says Rickard Dahlgren, VP and Acting President of Business Unit Heating Systems at Kanthal.

Both locations are expected to be fully operational in 2026, increasing the current production capacity by approximately 40%.

In June, Kanthal announced an expansion of its production capacity in Walldorf, Germany. At this site, the company manufactures products such as Fibrothal® heating modules, gas flow heaters, metallic heating elements, and diffusion cassettes.