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Albemarle boosts Saytex 8010 capacity, fights patent violation
STRATEGIES
TPEs are widely specified for ‘soft-touch’ applications including pens, tool and utensil grips, cellular phones, automotive gear shifts, and an increasingly large product portfolio across markets. ‘Consumers are increasingly purchasing a wide variety of personal care, automotive, food preparation and office-supply products with TPEs’, says Carol Perkins, Eastman’s market development manager, polymer modification solutions. ‘Eastman is committed to not only meeting but also exceeding the performance, aesthetic and processing needs of this growing marketplace’, she adds. Contact: Eastman Chemical Co, Kingsport, TN, USA. Tel: +1 423 229 2000, Web: www.eastman.com
COMPANY STRATEGIES Arkema doubles heat stabilizer capacity in China
F
rench company Arkema is investing in a major expansion of its PVC heat stabilizer production facility in Beijing, China, in response to strong growth in the region’s construction and packaging markets. The plant serves the company’s customers throughout Asia.
The expansion will double the capacity of the site to 12 000 tons per year for production of the full range of tin-based heat stabilizers, which are widely used in PVC applications to impart good colour and thermal stability as well as long-term weathering resistance. As a result, the site will become the single largest production facility for tin stabilizers in Asia, reinforcing Arkema’s position as the market leader on the continent, the company says. Asia is Arkema’s fastest-growing market and the investment reinforces the company’s commitment to its customers in the region’s PVC building, construction and packaging markets, says Rich Rowe, group president of the Functional Additives Division. The extension is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2008. The Beijing plant expansion is one of a series of measures recently announced by Arkema aimed at raising the share of sales generated in Asia from today’s
4
Additives for Polymers
figure of 13% to 20% by 2012. Other projects are the construction of a fluoropolymer production plant at the company’s existing Changshu site, close to Shanghai, and the establishment of two join ventures with Japan’s Daikin Industries for the production and marketing of refrigerant fluids in the Asia-Pacific region. Contact: Arkema, Colombes Cedex, France. Tel: +33 1 4900 8080, Web: www.arkemagroup.com
Albemarle boosts Saytex 8010 capacity, fights patent violation
U
S-based flame retardant major Albemarle Corp is expanding production capacity for its Saytex® 8010 brominated flame retardant by almost 20% in order to meet increased demand. The expansion, which is underway at the company’s Magnolia, AR, facility, is expected to be complete in January 2008.
Albemarle previously completed a major capacity expansion for the bis(pentabromophenyl) ethane flame retardant in early 2007. Together, the two expansions represent an investment of more than US$8 million, demonstrating Albemarle’s commitment to support its customers ‘and their growing demand for this important product’, says Troy Desoto, global business manager for the Saytex 8010 business. According to the company, the proprietary fire safety additive is one of the world’s ‘most trusted and efficient flame retardants’, providing highly effective protection at low loading levels and exceptional performance in a broad range of styrenics, polyolefins, PVC/nitrile rubber and other polymers, in applications ranging from consumer electronics to wire & cable to insulation foams. Saytex 8010 is preferred to many other flame retardants because it is thermally and UV-stable, and resists blooming in finished resins, Albemarle says. It is also said to provide outstanding performance for applications when mechanical recycle of the plastic is important. Saytex 8010 is also the subject of a recent patent infringement action filed by Albemarle in the Düsseldorf district court against Isochem Kautschuk
November 2007
STRATEGIES
GmbH, a Frankfurt, Germany-based supplier of chemicals for the rubber, plastics, polyurethane and adhesives industries. Albemarle alleges that the German firm has infringed its intellectual property, specifically its German patent DE 69105046 of European Patent No. 0460922, which protects the company’s process for producing Saytex 8010. The suit asserts that Isochem has violated Albemarle’s patent ‘by importing into and offering for sale in Germany flame retardant products that were produced using the patented process’. Under German law, it is illegal to import into, to offer for sale or to use within Germany products that are produced by a process that is protected by a German patent. Albemarle’s lawyers are confident that the German courts will uphold the validity and enforceability of this patent. Contact: Albemarle Corp, Baton Rouge, LA, USA. Tel: +1 225 388 7402, Web: www.albemarle.com
New flame retardant, polymer firm launched in USA
A
company has been established in the USA to commercialize a new family of polyphosphonate homopolymers and polyphosphonate–polycarbonate block copolymers that offer excellent flame-retardant properties. FRX Polymers LLLP aims to find initial markets for its products as polymeric flameretardant additives for plastics and as nonburning speciality polymers.
Headquartered in Chelmsford, MA, where it conducts its research and operates both polymer and monomer pilot facilities, FRX Polymers is headed by founding CEO Marc Lebel. The company is a limited partnership, 50% owned by KPP Investments, an investment company with headquarters in Tel Aviv, Israel, and 50% owned by Triton Systems Inc, a private Massachusetts-based R&D company specializing in advanced materials. FRX Polymers is in the process of forming joint development agreements with major polymer and flameretardant additive producers, which it expects will lead to manufacturing and marketing licences. It recently started up a new pilot plant and will use this capacity to seed its growing group of development partners.
November 2007
FRX’s products are non-halogenated, phosphorusbased polymers and have the highest limiting oxygen index (LOI) of all commercial thermoplastics, the firm says. In addition to their excellent flame retardancy, they are transparent and have a very high melt flow rate. As a result of their polymeric nature, they also will not migrate out of the host plastic when used as additives, FRX says. Tests also show that improved mechanical properties – such as heat distortion temperature – can result in certain polymer systems. Although much research has been carried out on polyphosphonates over the past 50 years, FRX Polymers is the first company to commercialize them, Lebel explains. The firm has developed a cost-effective manufacturing route and, through intensive research over the past four years, has dramatically improved the properties of these polymers, he says. The firm has also developed the synthesis process for one of the key phosphoruscontaining monomers, and intends to form a venture to supply this monomer to its polymer licensees. Lebel is confident that the polymers ‘will find applications in the US$15 billion flame retardant plastics market’. Contact: FRX Polymers, LLLP, 200 Turnpike Road, Chelmsford, MA 01824, USA. Tel: +1 978 244 9500, Web: www.frxpolymers.com
Baerlocher increases Malaysian stearate capacity, opens Russian office
I
n response to rapidly growing demand in South-east Asia and the Middle East, German company Baerlocher is investing in a new production unit for vegetable-based calcium and zinc stearates at its Seremban site in Malaysia. Commercial production from the new 5000 tons/ year capacity line will start in mid 2008.
The new state-of-the-art production unit at Seremban will ensure the availability of high-quality metallic stearates in the Far and Middle East, strengthening the company’s position in Asia and allowing better support of customers in the region, it says. The plant will include production of granular
Additives for Polymers
5
TPEs are widely specified for ‘soft-touch’ applications including pens, tool and utensil grips, cellular phones, automotive gear shifts, and an increasingly large product portfolio across markets. ‘Consumers are increasingly purchasing a wide variety of personal care, automotive, food preparation and office-supply products with TPEs’, says Carol Perkins, Eastman’s market development manager, polymer modification solutions. ‘Eastman is committed to not only meeting but also exceeding the performance, aesthetic and processing needs of this growing marketplace’, she adds. Contact: Eastman Chemical Co, Kingsport, TN, USA. Tel: +1 423 229 2000, Web: www.eastman.com
COMPANY STRATEGIES Arkema doubles heat stabilizer capacity in China
F
rench company Arkema is investing in a major expansion of its PVC heat stabilizer production facility in Beijing, China, in response to strong growth in the region’s construction and packaging markets. The plant serves the company’s customers throughout Asia.
The expansion will double the capacity of the site to 12 000 tons per year for production of the full range of tin-based heat stabilizers, which are widely used in PVC applications to impart good colour and thermal stability as well as long-term weathering resistance. As a result, the site will become the single largest production facility for tin stabilizers in Asia, reinforcing Arkema’s position as the market leader on the continent, the company says. Asia is Arkema’s fastest-growing market and the investment reinforces the company’s commitment to its customers in the region’s PVC building, construction and packaging markets, says Rich Rowe, group president of the Functional Additives Division. The extension is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2008. The Beijing plant expansion is one of a series of measures recently announced by Arkema aimed at raising the share of sales generated in Asia from today’s
4
Additives for Polymers
figure of 13% to 20% by 2012. Other projects are the construction of a fluoropolymer production plant at the company’s existing Changshu site, close to Shanghai, and the establishment of two join ventures with Japan’s Daikin Industries for the production and marketing of refrigerant fluids in the Asia-Pacific region. Contact: Arkema, Colombes Cedex, France. Tel: +33 1 4900 8080, Web: www.arkemagroup.com
Albemarle boosts Saytex 8010 capacity, fights patent violation
U
S-based flame retardant major Albemarle Corp is expanding production capacity for its Saytex® 8010 brominated flame retardant by almost 20% in order to meet increased demand. The expansion, which is underway at the company’s Magnolia, AR, facility, is expected to be complete in January 2008.
Albemarle previously completed a major capacity expansion for the bis(pentabromophenyl) ethane flame retardant in early 2007. Together, the two expansions represent an investment of more than US$8 million, demonstrating Albemarle’s commitment to support its customers ‘and their growing demand for this important product’, says Troy Desoto, global business manager for the Saytex 8010 business. According to the company, the proprietary fire safety additive is one of the world’s ‘most trusted and efficient flame retardants’, providing highly effective protection at low loading levels and exceptional performance in a broad range of styrenics, polyolefins, PVC/nitrile rubber and other polymers, in applications ranging from consumer electronics to wire & cable to insulation foams. Saytex 8010 is preferred to many other flame retardants because it is thermally and UV-stable, and resists blooming in finished resins, Albemarle says. It is also said to provide outstanding performance for applications when mechanical recycle of the plastic is important. Saytex 8010 is also the subject of a recent patent infringement action filed by Albemarle in the Düsseldorf district court against Isochem Kautschuk
November 2007
STRATEGIES
GmbH, a Frankfurt, Germany-based supplier of chemicals for the rubber, plastics, polyurethane and adhesives industries. Albemarle alleges that the German firm has infringed its intellectual property, specifically its German patent DE 69105046 of European Patent No. 0460922, which protects the company’s process for producing Saytex 8010. The suit asserts that Isochem has violated Albemarle’s patent ‘by importing into and offering for sale in Germany flame retardant products that were produced using the patented process’. Under German law, it is illegal to import into, to offer for sale or to use within Germany products that are produced by a process that is protected by a German patent. Albemarle’s lawyers are confident that the German courts will uphold the validity and enforceability of this patent. Contact: Albemarle Corp, Baton Rouge, LA, USA. Tel: +1 225 388 7402, Web: www.albemarle.com
New flame retardant, polymer firm launched in USA
A
company has been established in the USA to commercialize a new family of polyphosphonate homopolymers and polyphosphonate–polycarbonate block copolymers that offer excellent flame-retardant properties. FRX Polymers LLLP aims to find initial markets for its products as polymeric flameretardant additives for plastics and as nonburning speciality polymers.
Headquartered in Chelmsford, MA, where it conducts its research and operates both polymer and monomer pilot facilities, FRX Polymers is headed by founding CEO Marc Lebel. The company is a limited partnership, 50% owned by KPP Investments, an investment company with headquarters in Tel Aviv, Israel, and 50% owned by Triton Systems Inc, a private Massachusetts-based R&D company specializing in advanced materials. FRX Polymers is in the process of forming joint development agreements with major polymer and flameretardant additive producers, which it expects will lead to manufacturing and marketing licences. It recently started up a new pilot plant and will use this capacity to seed its growing group of development partners.
November 2007
FRX’s products are non-halogenated, phosphorusbased polymers and have the highest limiting oxygen index (LOI) of all commercial thermoplastics, the firm says. In addition to their excellent flame retardancy, they are transparent and have a very high melt flow rate. As a result of their polymeric nature, they also will not migrate out of the host plastic when used as additives, FRX says. Tests also show that improved mechanical properties – such as heat distortion temperature – can result in certain polymer systems. Although much research has been carried out on polyphosphonates over the past 50 years, FRX Polymers is the first company to commercialize them, Lebel explains. The firm has developed a cost-effective manufacturing route and, through intensive research over the past four years, has dramatically improved the properties of these polymers, he says. The firm has also developed the synthesis process for one of the key phosphoruscontaining monomers, and intends to form a venture to supply this monomer to its polymer licensees. Lebel is confident that the polymers ‘will find applications in the US$15 billion flame retardant plastics market’. Contact: FRX Polymers, LLLP, 200 Turnpike Road, Chelmsford, MA 01824, USA. Tel: +1 978 244 9500, Web: www.frxpolymers.com
Baerlocher increases Malaysian stearate capacity, opens Russian office
I
n response to rapidly growing demand in South-east Asia and the Middle East, German company Baerlocher is investing in a new production unit for vegetable-based calcium and zinc stearates at its Seremban site in Malaysia. Commercial production from the new 5000 tons/ year capacity line will start in mid 2008.
The new state-of-the-art production unit at Seremban will ensure the availability of high-quality metallic stearates in the Far and Middle East, strengthening the company’s position in Asia and allowing better support of customers in the region, it says. The plant will include production of granular
Additives for Polymers
5