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Aurora buys Reinier, boosting its PVC business
FOCUS to raise its prices for all rubber-grade carbon blacks sold in the US by $0.05 per pound (or $110 per tonne). Mr Chris Erickson (Vice President, Rubber Carbon Black Business Line, Americas) said: “We are taking this action because current price levels in North America do not adequately address the costs of maintaining production capacity at Orange. We are assisting affected customers through the appropriate transition plans. We are increasing prices in order to continue the substantial investments in our North American rubber black production network essential to sustain safety of supply.” Whereas Orion is running its European plants at rates close to 100%, average capacity utilisation in the North American carbon black industry has been in the 85-93% range throughout the year to date. Orion Engineered Carbons LLC, 27 Jul 2017 (4501 Magnolia Cove Drive, Suite 106, Kingwood, TX 77345, USA, Website: http:// www.orioncarbons.com) ã Orion 2017. Original Source: European Rubber Journal, 15 Aug 2017, (Website: http://www. european-rubber-journal.com) ã Crain Communications Ltd 2017.
US: Standridge – plastics colorants Standridge Color Corp (headquartered in Social Circle, GA, about 70 km east of Atlanta) is poised to open its fifth manufacturing facility in the US – this one at Burley, Idaho (130 km southwest of Pocatello). The plant is expected to open in November 2017. Standridge is best known as a manufacturer of colour and additive concentrates, but it also supplies custom resins and special pigment dispersions. The company’s existing plants in the US are located at Jasper and Greensboro (Georgia), Defiance (Ohio) and Newton (Kansas). Standridge also has two overseas plants – one at Suzhou (China), the other at Pardubice (Czech Republic). Original Source: Plastics News, 12 Sep 2017, (Website: http://www.plasticsnews.com) ã Crain Communications Inc 2017.
COMPANIES Aurora buys Reinier, boosting its PVC business Aurora Plastics LLC has purchased the entire assets and business of Reinier Plastics Inc. Both companies are
October 2017
ON
PIGMENTS
significant producers of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) powders and pellets. Aurora is best known for its rigid cellular PVC (AuroraLite), PVC/acrylic pellets (AuroraShield), rigid PVC pellets (cubes and hex-cut), rigid PVC powders, flexible PVC in various colours and purge compounds. Aurora has a plant at Welcome, NC (20 km south of WinstonSalem) and a plant at Streetsboro, OH (50 km southeast of Cleveland), which is also the site of its head office. Reinier’s plant is at Marieville (45 km east of Montreal). Thanks to this acquisition, Aurora will also extend its distribution network into Canada. Original Source: Plastics Today News, 6 Jun 2017, (Website: http://www.plasticstoday.com) ã UBM Canon 2017.
Evonik buys Huber’s silica assets, then sells Sident, Zeofoam & Zeoflo to Grace Effective 1 September 2017, Evonik Industries AG (headquartered in Essen, Germany) acquired the silica business of JM Huber Corp (headquartered in Edison, NJ). Agreement on the deal had been jointly announced by the two parties on 9 December 2016. (See ‘Focus on Pigments’, Feb 2017, 7). Evonik has 11 precipitated silica plants in nine countries, including the recently commissioned plant in Brazil. Its total global capacity for precipitated silica, fumed silica and silica-based matting agents is around 600,000 tonnes/y. (See also ‘Focus on Pigments’, Sep 2016, 3). Huber began producing precipitated silica in the late 1950s and it now has six precipitated silica plants, located at: Oostende (Belgium); Hamina (Finland); Jhagadia, Gujarat (India); Qingdao, Shandong (China); Etowah, Tennessee & Havre de Grace, Maryland (United States). The company had not disclosed its total global silica capacity in recent times. Commenting on the sale, Mr Mike Marberry (President & CEO of Huber) said: “The Silica business has been a fundamental part of Huber for more than 60 years, providing a runway for the company’s global diversification into engineered materials. We thank our Silica employees and know their talents and expertise will be highly valued by Evonik.” Huber Engineered Materials will continue to be a leading global supplier of ground calcium carbonate and alumina trihydrate. Mr Christian Kullmann (Chairman of the Executive Board of Evonik) said: “With the successful closing of the acquisition, we are strengthening our Smart Materials growth engine. The newly acquired business will be
integrated into our Resource Efficiency Segment. The intensive planning work that has been carried out for the integration over the past few months will be put into action straight away. The acquisition is a perfect match for our product portfolio. Huber Silica is especially oriented towards applications in the consumer goods industry, the dental sector for example. To date, Evonik’s silica business has been more focused on industrial applications (notably tyres and paints).” During a detailed anti-trust investigation, the European Commission raised concerns about the impact of merging Evonik and Huber activities in the markets for precipitated silica, particularly hydrophobic precipitated silica, with respect to consumption in toothpaste, defoamers and paints. The European Commission granted approval on 26 June 2017, conditional on the divestment of certain precipitated silica assets. It is now clear that Evonik has sold the relevant assets to WR Grace & Co (headquartered in Columbia, MD). On 28 August 2017, WR Grace announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire certain assets from Evonik on 5 September, subsequent to the closing of the Evonik/ Huber acquisition. The assets included: trademarks and licences to produce and sell Evonik’s Sident dental precipitated silica product range and Huber’s Zeofoam and Zeoflo defoamer and anticaking product ranges. The terms and value of the Evonik/Grace transaction were not disclosed. Ms Sandra Wisniewski (President, Grace Materials Technologies) commented: “Grace has long been a leader in both the supply of dental silicas and the supply of additives to a variety of industries. The precipitated silica products and technologies will enable us to deliver more value to our leading global consumer products customers with some of the world’s most recognised toothpaste brands. The defoamer precursors and anti-caking agents are a great addition to our strong silica product portfolio.” On 27 September 2017, Evonik declared that it has re-designed its silica logo and was re-launching the following brands: Acematt, Aerosil, Aeroxide, Hydrex, Sipernat, Spherilex, Ultrasil, Zeodent, Zeofree and Zeolex. Mr Dirk Schön (of Evonik) said: “The previous brand profile for our silica business was very heterogeneous and remained unchanged in the market for decades. We have taken the opportunity to update our brands’ visual design and make it more distinctive. In harmonising the brand design, we aim to ensure that we are recognized as a full-service provider for the entire silica family. Bear in mind
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US: Standridge – plastics colorants Standridge Color Corp (headquartered in Social Circle, GA, about 70 km east of Atlanta) is poised to open its fifth manufacturing facility in the US – this one at Burley, Idaho (130 km southwest of Pocatello). The plant is expected to open in November 2017. Standridge is best known as a manufacturer of colour and additive concentrates, but it also supplies custom resins and special pigment dispersions. The company’s existing plants in the US are located at Jasper and Greensboro (Georgia), Defiance (Ohio) and Newton (Kansas). Standridge also has two overseas plants – one at Suzhou (China), the other at Pardubice (Czech Republic). Original Source: Plastics News, 12 Sep 2017, (Website: http://www.plasticsnews.com) ã Crain Communications Inc 2017.
COMPANIES Aurora buys Reinier, boosting its PVC business Aurora Plastics LLC has purchased the entire assets and business of Reinier Plastics Inc. Both companies are
October 2017
ON
PIGMENTS
significant producers of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) powders and pellets. Aurora is best known for its rigid cellular PVC (AuroraLite), PVC/acrylic pellets (AuroraShield), rigid PVC pellets (cubes and hex-cut), rigid PVC powders, flexible PVC in various colours and purge compounds. Aurora has a plant at Welcome, NC (20 km south of WinstonSalem) and a plant at Streetsboro, OH (50 km southeast of Cleveland), which is also the site of its head office. Reinier’s plant is at Marieville (45 km east of Montreal). Thanks to this acquisition, Aurora will also extend its distribution network into Canada. Original Source: Plastics Today News, 6 Jun 2017, (Website: http://www.plasticstoday.com) ã UBM Canon 2017.
Evonik buys Huber’s silica assets, then sells Sident, Zeofoam & Zeoflo to Grace Effective 1 September 2017, Evonik Industries AG (headquartered in Essen, Germany) acquired the silica business of JM Huber Corp (headquartered in Edison, NJ). Agreement on the deal had been jointly announced by the two parties on 9 December 2016. (See ‘Focus on Pigments’, Feb 2017, 7). Evonik has 11 precipitated silica plants in nine countries, including the recently commissioned plant in Brazil. Its total global capacity for precipitated silica, fumed silica and silica-based matting agents is around 600,000 tonnes/y. (See also ‘Focus on Pigments’, Sep 2016, 3). Huber began producing precipitated silica in the late 1950s and it now has six precipitated silica plants, located at: Oostende (Belgium); Hamina (Finland); Jhagadia, Gujarat (India); Qingdao, Shandong (China); Etowah, Tennessee & Havre de Grace, Maryland (United States). The company had not disclosed its total global silica capacity in recent times. Commenting on the sale, Mr Mike Marberry (President & CEO of Huber) said: “The Silica business has been a fundamental part of Huber for more than 60 years, providing a runway for the company’s global diversification into engineered materials. We thank our Silica employees and know their talents and expertise will be highly valued by Evonik.” Huber Engineered Materials will continue to be a leading global supplier of ground calcium carbonate and alumina trihydrate. Mr Christian Kullmann (Chairman of the Executive Board of Evonik) said: “With the successful closing of the acquisition, we are strengthening our Smart Materials growth engine. The newly acquired business will be
integrated into our Resource Efficiency Segment. The intensive planning work that has been carried out for the integration over the past few months will be put into action straight away. The acquisition is a perfect match for our product portfolio. Huber Silica is especially oriented towards applications in the consumer goods industry, the dental sector for example. To date, Evonik’s silica business has been more focused on industrial applications (notably tyres and paints).” During a detailed anti-trust investigation, the European Commission raised concerns about the impact of merging Evonik and Huber activities in the markets for precipitated silica, particularly hydrophobic precipitated silica, with respect to consumption in toothpaste, defoamers and paints. The European Commission granted approval on 26 June 2017, conditional on the divestment of certain precipitated silica assets. It is now clear that Evonik has sold the relevant assets to WR Grace & Co (headquartered in Columbia, MD). On 28 August 2017, WR Grace announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire certain assets from Evonik on 5 September, subsequent to the closing of the Evonik/ Huber acquisition. The assets included: trademarks and licences to produce and sell Evonik’s Sident dental precipitated silica product range and Huber’s Zeofoam and Zeoflo defoamer and anticaking product ranges. The terms and value of the Evonik/Grace transaction were not disclosed. Ms Sandra Wisniewski (President, Grace Materials Technologies) commented: “Grace has long been a leader in both the supply of dental silicas and the supply of additives to a variety of industries. The precipitated silica products and technologies will enable us to deliver more value to our leading global consumer products customers with some of the world’s most recognised toothpaste brands. The defoamer precursors and anti-caking agents are a great addition to our strong silica product portfolio.” On 27 September 2017, Evonik declared that it has re-designed its silica logo and was re-launching the following brands: Acematt, Aerosil, Aeroxide, Hydrex, Sipernat, Spherilex, Ultrasil, Zeodent, Zeofree and Zeolex. Mr Dirk Schön (of Evonik) said: “The previous brand profile for our silica business was very heterogeneous and remained unchanged in the market for decades. We have taken the opportunity to update our brands’ visual design and make it more distinctive. In harmonising the brand design, we aim to ensure that we are recognized as a full-service provider for the entire silica family. Bear in mind
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