The Chemours Company CC has announced that it is developing a low global warming potential (GWP) refrigerant retrofit strategy for the automotive aftermarket to help support the global phaseout of higher GWP hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants. The technical approach will allow car owners and service professionals with a simple retrofit process to safely and cost-effectively replace the legacy R-134a refrigerant in their existing vehicle with the widely used, low GWP Opteon YF refrigerant. Opteon YF was designed to replace R-134a in new mobile HVAC systems.

Customer satisfaction, safety and ease of use are always the highest objectives. Hence, it is developing a simple retrofit approach that draws on current safe servicing standards while offering a lower GWP refrigerant choice. Providing a fully integrated approach with matched performance and a reduced environmental footprint will benefit both the automobile industry and society as a whole.

As the use of Opteon YF grows in response to global climate targets and laws, Chemours has continued to collaborate with industry to encourage adoption. Creating a safe, easy and cost-effective retrofit strategy to aid in the transition to low GWP technology is an important step forward.

Opteon YF, which was developed more than a decade ago, has become the favored low GWP refrigerant among worldwide vehicle makers. Chemours anticipates its Opteon portfolio to eliminate an estimated 325 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2025. As global HFC phaseout activities accelerate, Opteon YF has been meeting GWP targets and performance criteria.

Shares of Chemours have lost 46.1% over the past year compared with a 9.7% decline of its industry.

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CC forecasts a low to mid-single-digit sequential decline in net sales for the third quarter due to the continued effects of the unplanned downtime at its Altamira, Mexico manufacturing site in Titanium Technologies during the second quarter. The downtick is also influenced by seasonal fluctuations in refrigerant demand and weaker Freon refrigerant pricing in Thermal & Specialized Solutions as well as a modest recovery in Advanced Performance Materials.

Despite these challenges, the company projects continued strong adoption of Opteon refrigerants, anticipating double-digit year-over-year growth, along with robust performance in the Performance Solutions portfolio.

In addition, the company expects a high-single-digit sequential decline in adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for the third quarter, which reflects $15-$20 million in costs related to the unplanned shutdown at Altamira. However, corporate expenses are anticipated to fall sequentially as efforts around controls remediation continue, with the majority of these costs concentrated in the first half of the year.