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Agrofert plans to buy Chinese TiO2 producer
F O C U S tonnes/y and the plant location is described as Rozenburg (instead of the more usual Botlek). Rozenburg and Botlek are in fact adjoining municipal districts (Gemeente) in the Rotterdam port area. Chemie Magazine (Nederlandse Chemische Industrie), 19 Apr 2006, 4 (4), 31-32 (in Dutch)
US: Columbian – carbon black Columbian Chemicals is now run as a 67:33 joint venture between DC Chemical and One Equity Partner. (See ‘Focus on Pigments’, Apr 2006, 6). Mr Soo Young Lee (Chairman of DC Chemical) said: “We have two carbon black plants in Korea and we have been interested in growing in the carbon black industry for some time. Buying into the world’s third largest carbon black manufacturer was an opportunity we couldn’t miss.” In their first steps to rationalise operations, the new owners have decided to scale back production at the Marshall plant in West Virginia. Two of the four lines will be closed, resulting in a cutback in the workforce from 74 to 59, effective 1 July 2006. The closure at Marshall will be partly offset by increased production at Columbian’s North Bend plant in Louisiana. ICIS Chemical Business, 27 Mar 2006, 18 (Website: http://icischemicalbusiness.com) & Chimie Pharma Hebdo, 9 May 2006, (339), 13 (in French)
US: DuPont – TiO2 DuPont reopened its TiO2 pigment plant at DeLisle, MS towards the end of January 2006, following five months’ closure due to extensive flooding in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The company immediately declared that a force majeure event had occurred, preventing and excusing it from performing its obligations under supply contracts. (See also ‘Focus on Pigments’, Feb 2006, 5). DuPont has now lifted the force majeure declaration and it has announced plans to invest $15-20 M in a project to raise the height of the flood wall surrounding the plant from 6 metres to 9 metres. The DeLisle plant is now operating near capacity, now stated as 300,000 tonnes/y. Chemical and Engineering News, 24 Apr 2006, 84 (17), 22-23 (Website: http://www.cen-online.org) & Chemical Week, 26 Apr 2006, (Website: http://www.chemweek.com)
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VietNam: Omya – GCC Omya (headquartered in Switzerland) is budgetting $7 M for the establishment of a new ground calcium carbonate (GCC) plant at the GoDau Industrial Park (DongNai province), near Ho ChiMinh City. The plant operator will be Surint Omya Chemicals and the plant is expected to come into production before the end of 2006. It will be capable of producing 45,000-60,000 tonnes/y of GCC for sale to the paper, paint, plastics and rubber industries. Pulp and Paper International, May 2006, 48 (5), 14
COMPANIES Agrofert plans to buy Chinese TiO2 producer Agrofert Holdings (of Prague) has more than 12,000 employees and is one of the largest industrial corporations in the Czech Republic. It owns the country’s only TiO2 pigment plant (operated by Precheza) and, via its subsidiary Deza, it has a substantial shareholding in the country’s only carbon black plant. Agrofert is keen to expand abroad and as a key first step it has acquired SKW Piesteritz (of Germany). Recently, Agrofert declared that it had budgeted $10 M for the acquisition of two small enterprises in China, one a rubber manufacturer and the other a TiO2 pigment producer. During the 1990s, Precheza was involved in two projects in China – at Lanzhou (Gansu province) and Jinan (Shandong province) – for the design of 15,000 tonnes/y sulfateroute TiO2 pigment plants. Hospodarske Noviny, 4 May 2006, 50 (87), 13 (in Czech)
Brenntag to sell for Columbian Chemicals in Latin America Columbian Chemicals has appointed Brenntag as its distributor for its entire carbon black range in Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Central America, Chile, Peru and Venezuela. Ink Maker, Apr 2006, 84 (3), 6
ChemCentral to sell for Solution Dispersions ChemCentral International (of Chicago) has been appointed by
Solution Dispersions Inc (of Cynthiana, KY) to sell its carbon black dispersions in all world markets outside North America. ChemCentral claims to be the world’s largest privately owned distributor of industrial chemicals, with annual sales revenues in excess of $1.1 bn. Chemical Week, 26 Apr 2006, (Website: http://www.chemweek.com)
Kemira buys IFAC As part of its campaign to establish a leading position in the supply of speciality TiO2 grades to the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic sectors, Kemira will acquire the entire business and assets of IFAC GmbH & Co KG (of Oberhausen, Germany). All 10 employees will transfer to Kemira Pigments. IFAC is a privately-owned research and development company, specialising in nanotechnology applications for cosmetics manufacturers. It holds a strong patent portfolio in this field. IFAC pioneered the development of I-Spheres, which encapsulate the active ingredients of cosmetics, facilitating their absorption by the skin and limiting their degradation by oxidation or evaporation. I-Spheres are widely used for ultraviolet filters and fragrances. Chimie Pharma Hebdo, 18 Apr 2006, (337), 8 (in French)
SMI appoints Fimatec to sell PCC in Japan Specialty Minerals Inc (SMI, part of the Mineral Technologies Inc group) has appointed Fimatec as its Japanese distributor for precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC) and talc. Fimatec estimates that its sales of PCC should be of the order of ¥100200 M during the first year, rising to ¥1 bn by 2009. Fimatec is already the largest producer of ground calcium carbonate (GCC) in Japan, with processing facilities at Akita, Fuji (Shizuoka prefecture), Soma (Fukushima prefecture) and Tomano (Okayama prefecture) capable of producing about 250,000 tonnes/y of GCC. Japan Chemical Week, 20 Apr 2006, 47 (2364), 2
MAY 2006
US: Columbian – carbon black Columbian Chemicals is now run as a 67:33 joint venture between DC Chemical and One Equity Partner. (See ‘Focus on Pigments’, Apr 2006, 6). Mr Soo Young Lee (Chairman of DC Chemical) said: “We have two carbon black plants in Korea and we have been interested in growing in the carbon black industry for some time. Buying into the world’s third largest carbon black manufacturer was an opportunity we couldn’t miss.” In their first steps to rationalise operations, the new owners have decided to scale back production at the Marshall plant in West Virginia. Two of the four lines will be closed, resulting in a cutback in the workforce from 74 to 59, effective 1 July 2006. The closure at Marshall will be partly offset by increased production at Columbian’s North Bend plant in Louisiana. ICIS Chemical Business, 27 Mar 2006, 18 (Website: http://icischemicalbusiness.com) & Chimie Pharma Hebdo, 9 May 2006, (339), 13 (in French)
US: DuPont – TiO2 DuPont reopened its TiO2 pigment plant at DeLisle, MS towards the end of January 2006, following five months’ closure due to extensive flooding in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The company immediately declared that a force majeure event had occurred, preventing and excusing it from performing its obligations under supply contracts. (See also ‘Focus on Pigments’, Feb 2006, 5). DuPont has now lifted the force majeure declaration and it has announced plans to invest $15-20 M in a project to raise the height of the flood wall surrounding the plant from 6 metres to 9 metres. The DeLisle plant is now operating near capacity, now stated as 300,000 tonnes/y. Chemical and Engineering News, 24 Apr 2006, 84 (17), 22-23 (Website: http://www.cen-online.org) & Chemical Week, 26 Apr 2006, (Website: http://www.chemweek.com)
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O N
PIGMENTS
VietNam: Omya – GCC Omya (headquartered in Switzerland) is budgetting $7 M for the establishment of a new ground calcium carbonate (GCC) plant at the GoDau Industrial Park (DongNai province), near Ho ChiMinh City. The plant operator will be Surint Omya Chemicals and the plant is expected to come into production before the end of 2006. It will be capable of producing 45,000-60,000 tonnes/y of GCC for sale to the paper, paint, plastics and rubber industries. Pulp and Paper International, May 2006, 48 (5), 14
COMPANIES Agrofert plans to buy Chinese TiO2 producer Agrofert Holdings (of Prague) has more than 12,000 employees and is one of the largest industrial corporations in the Czech Republic. It owns the country’s only TiO2 pigment plant (operated by Precheza) and, via its subsidiary Deza, it has a substantial shareholding in the country’s only carbon black plant. Agrofert is keen to expand abroad and as a key first step it has acquired SKW Piesteritz (of Germany). Recently, Agrofert declared that it had budgeted $10 M for the acquisition of two small enterprises in China, one a rubber manufacturer and the other a TiO2 pigment producer. During the 1990s, Precheza was involved in two projects in China – at Lanzhou (Gansu province) and Jinan (Shandong province) – for the design of 15,000 tonnes/y sulfateroute TiO2 pigment plants. Hospodarske Noviny, 4 May 2006, 50 (87), 13 (in Czech)
Brenntag to sell for Columbian Chemicals in Latin America Columbian Chemicals has appointed Brenntag as its distributor for its entire carbon black range in Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Central America, Chile, Peru and Venezuela. Ink Maker, Apr 2006, 84 (3), 6
ChemCentral to sell for Solution Dispersions ChemCentral International (of Chicago) has been appointed by
Solution Dispersions Inc (of Cynthiana, KY) to sell its carbon black dispersions in all world markets outside North America. ChemCentral claims to be the world’s largest privately owned distributor of industrial chemicals, with annual sales revenues in excess of $1.1 bn. Chemical Week, 26 Apr 2006, (Website: http://www.chemweek.com)
Kemira buys IFAC As part of its campaign to establish a leading position in the supply of speciality TiO2 grades to the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic sectors, Kemira will acquire the entire business and assets of IFAC GmbH & Co KG (of Oberhausen, Germany). All 10 employees will transfer to Kemira Pigments. IFAC is a privately-owned research and development company, specialising in nanotechnology applications for cosmetics manufacturers. It holds a strong patent portfolio in this field. IFAC pioneered the development of I-Spheres, which encapsulate the active ingredients of cosmetics, facilitating their absorption by the skin and limiting their degradation by oxidation or evaporation. I-Spheres are widely used for ultraviolet filters and fragrances. Chimie Pharma Hebdo, 18 Apr 2006, (337), 8 (in French)
SMI appoints Fimatec to sell PCC in Japan Specialty Minerals Inc (SMI, part of the Mineral Technologies Inc group) has appointed Fimatec as its Japanese distributor for precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC) and talc. Fimatec estimates that its sales of PCC should be of the order of ¥100200 M during the first year, rising to ¥1 bn by 2009. Fimatec is already the largest producer of ground calcium carbonate (GCC) in Japan, with processing facilities at Akita, Fuji (Shizuoka prefecture), Soma (Fukushima prefecture) and Tomano (Okayama prefecture) capable of producing about 250,000 tonnes/y of GCC. Japan Chemical Week, 20 Apr 2006, 47 (2364), 2
MAY 2006