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China: PolyOne – plastic compounds
FOCUS Market prices for pigments used in cosmetics vary across a wide spectrum. Mr Ray Will (of SRI Consulting) notes: “Average prices for high-performance organics can be around $33-35 per kilo, and these mostly go into nail polishes. The typical prices for pearlescents are in the $75-90 per kilo range; metal effect pigments are usually between $30 and $35 per kilo; while average prices for colour-shifting/optically variable pigments are in the $650-800 per kilo range.” Cosmetics pigments are typically incorporated into coloured cosmetic products (for hair, nails, lips, eyes and skin) and it is estimated that world spending on colour cosmetics increased by 4-7% last year to reach $28 bn. In the US, sales of mass-market cosmetics by all retailers (excluding Wal-Mart) increased by 4% to $2.52 bn. The top three suppliers – L’Orèal, Revlon and Procter & Gamble – dominate the market, with a combined market share of 74%. Sales of eye cosmetics increased by 8% to $868 M in 2006, while facial cosmetics rose by 7% to $785 M. Sales of nail cosmetics fell by 2% to $221 M, while sales of lip cosmetics fell by 3% to $561 M. China is already the world’s third largest market for cosmetics, behind the US and Japan. Procter & Gamble is the market leader in China for both cosmetics and toiletries. Other multinationals successfully operating here include: Colgate-Palmolive, Johnson & Johnson, L’Oreal, Avon, Shiseido, Beiersdorf, Estée Lauder and Unilever. According to Euromonitor, eight of the top 10 players in the Chinese market for cosmetics and personal care products are foreignowned, but there are signs that consumers are increasingly buying Chinese brands, which accentuate the fact that they use traditional ingredients rather than synthetic chemicals. Last year, Procter & Gamble was obliged to withdraw all its SK-II skin care products from the Chinese market because the Chinese public health authorities detected traces of chromium and neodymium in them. Paradoxically, the US Food & Drug Administration banned imports of Chinese toothpaste after finding samples containing harmful diethylene glycol.
JULY 2007
ON
PIGMENTS
The safety of nanoparticulate inorganic pigments used in sunscreens and skincare products has been raised as a major issue over the past year. Although conventional TiO2 pigments (with a particle size of 200-300 nanometres) have always been heralded as non-toxic and biologically inert, a preliminary study by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC, an affiliate of the World Health Organisation) published last year showed indications of carcinogenicity for nanoparticulate TiO2 inhaled by laboratory rats. Similar concerns have been raised in respect of nanoparticulate iron oxide pigments.
Didier Werke (of Germany) and in 1999 it took majority control of Global Industrial Technologies Inc (GIT, of the US) and then integrated HarbisonWalker (a subsidiary of GIT) into its own refractories business. Non-core assets were disposed of. Towards the end of last year, RHI acquired controlling interests in two more refractories companies – Monofrax (of the US) and Clasil (of India).
ICIS Chemical Business, 14 May 2007 (Website: http://icischemicalbusiness.com)
At the recent Chinaplas Show (held in Guangzhou, 21-24 May 2007), PolyOne Corp announced plans to install two new lines at each of its plastics compounding plants at Shenzhen and Shanghai, plus another line at the Suzhou plastics compounding plant. PolyOne also announced the launch of a new range of bio-based additives and colorants for incorporating into biodegradable polymers, such as polylactic acid and polyhydroxybutyrate-valerate copolymer for applications in packaging, garbage bags, shopping bags, bottles and caps. PolyOne also rolled out to Asian markets an enhanced version of its PicoTint line of liquid colorants, which uses a polymer-based carrier rather than a conventional oil- or surfactant-based carrier. PicoTint shows good heatand light-stability and it enhances weatherability and shelf-life.
PLANTS Austria: Albemarle & RHI – magnesium hydroxide flame retardants Albemarle (of Baton Rouge, US) and RHI (of Vienna) have announced the completion of the expansion in Magnifin magnesium hydroxide flame retardant capacity at their joint venture plant at Breitenau. Capacity here was doubled from 20,000 tonnes/y to 40,000 tonnes/y. Albemarle is the world’s leading supplier of flame retardants. Its major plant is at Bergheim (Germany) currently produces around 100,000 tonnes/y of Martinal flame retardants, based on alumina trihydrate (ATH). Capacity at Bergheim is about to be raised by 10%. Albemarle acquired this plant from Alcan/Alusuisse in mid2001. (See ‘Focus on Pigments’, Jun 2001, 5 & Dec 2002, 4). Albemarle also has a 25,000 tonnes/y ATH plant at Pasadena, TX, which was recently converted from a zeolites facility. (See ‘Focus on Pigments’, Jul 2005, 6). RHI (formerly Radex Heraklith Industriebeteiligungs AG) is a multinational refractories manufacturer, which was created in 1987 following the management buy-out of General Refractories Co. In 1993, two Austrian companies – Veitscher Magnesitwerke and Radex Austria – merged to form Veitsch-Radex, which later became a wholly-owned subsidiary of RHI. In 1995, RHI took majority control of
Press Releases from: Albemarle Corp, 451 Florida Street, Baton Rouge, LA 70801, USA, Website: http://www.albemarle.com (2 Jun 2007) & RHI, Vienna, Website: http://www.rhi-ag.com (5 Jun 2007)
China: PolyOne – plastic compounds
Plastics News, 24 May 2007 & 11 Jun 2007 (Website: http://www.plasticsnews.com)
China: ShengdaTech – nanoparticulate calcium carbonate ShengdaTech Inc brought on-stream a second nanoparticulate calcium carbonate unit at Xian City (Shandong province) in 3Q 2006, bringing total capacity here to 100,000 tonnes/y. Both the old unit and the new unit were operating at rates above design capacity in 1Q 2007. Work is now well underway to add a further 40,000 tonnes/y of capacity before the end of June 2007, plus another 60,000 tonnes/y during the second half of the year.
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JULY 2007
ON
PIGMENTS
The safety of nanoparticulate inorganic pigments used in sunscreens and skincare products has been raised as a major issue over the past year. Although conventional TiO2 pigments (with a particle size of 200-300 nanometres) have always been heralded as non-toxic and biologically inert, a preliminary study by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC, an affiliate of the World Health Organisation) published last year showed indications of carcinogenicity for nanoparticulate TiO2 inhaled by laboratory rats. Similar concerns have been raised in respect of nanoparticulate iron oxide pigments.
Didier Werke (of Germany) and in 1999 it took majority control of Global Industrial Technologies Inc (GIT, of the US) and then integrated HarbisonWalker (a subsidiary of GIT) into its own refractories business. Non-core assets were disposed of. Towards the end of last year, RHI acquired controlling interests in two more refractories companies – Monofrax (of the US) and Clasil (of India).
ICIS Chemical Business, 14 May 2007 (Website: http://icischemicalbusiness.com)
At the recent Chinaplas Show (held in Guangzhou, 21-24 May 2007), PolyOne Corp announced plans to install two new lines at each of its plastics compounding plants at Shenzhen and Shanghai, plus another line at the Suzhou plastics compounding plant. PolyOne also announced the launch of a new range of bio-based additives and colorants for incorporating into biodegradable polymers, such as polylactic acid and polyhydroxybutyrate-valerate copolymer for applications in packaging, garbage bags, shopping bags, bottles and caps. PolyOne also rolled out to Asian markets an enhanced version of its PicoTint line of liquid colorants, which uses a polymer-based carrier rather than a conventional oil- or surfactant-based carrier. PicoTint shows good heatand light-stability and it enhances weatherability and shelf-life.
PLANTS Austria: Albemarle & RHI – magnesium hydroxide flame retardants Albemarle (of Baton Rouge, US) and RHI (of Vienna) have announced the completion of the expansion in Magnifin magnesium hydroxide flame retardant capacity at their joint venture plant at Breitenau. Capacity here was doubled from 20,000 tonnes/y to 40,000 tonnes/y. Albemarle is the world’s leading supplier of flame retardants. Its major plant is at Bergheim (Germany) currently produces around 100,000 tonnes/y of Martinal flame retardants, based on alumina trihydrate (ATH). Capacity at Bergheim is about to be raised by 10%. Albemarle acquired this plant from Alcan/Alusuisse in mid2001. (See ‘Focus on Pigments’, Jun 2001, 5 & Dec 2002, 4). Albemarle also has a 25,000 tonnes/y ATH plant at Pasadena, TX, which was recently converted from a zeolites facility. (See ‘Focus on Pigments’, Jul 2005, 6). RHI (formerly Radex Heraklith Industriebeteiligungs AG) is a multinational refractories manufacturer, which was created in 1987 following the management buy-out of General Refractories Co. In 1993, two Austrian companies – Veitscher Magnesitwerke and Radex Austria – merged to form Veitsch-Radex, which later became a wholly-owned subsidiary of RHI. In 1995, RHI took majority control of
Press Releases from: Albemarle Corp, 451 Florida Street, Baton Rouge, LA 70801, USA, Website: http://www.albemarle.com (2 Jun 2007) & RHI, Vienna, Website: http://www.rhi-ag.com (5 Jun 2007)
China: PolyOne – plastic compounds
Plastics News, 24 May 2007 & 11 Jun 2007 (Website: http://www.plasticsnews.com)
China: ShengdaTech – nanoparticulate calcium carbonate ShengdaTech Inc brought on-stream a second nanoparticulate calcium carbonate unit at Xian City (Shandong province) in 3Q 2006, bringing total capacity here to 100,000 tonnes/y. Both the old unit and the new unit were operating at rates above design capacity in 1Q 2007. Work is now well underway to add a further 40,000 tonnes/y of capacity before the end of June 2007, plus another 60,000 tonnes/y during the second half of the year.
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