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China: Guangdong Jiawei Chemicals – nanoparticulate calcium carbonate
FOCUS
ON
PIGMENTS
China: Changzhou North American – organic pigments
China: Guangdong Jiawei Chemicals – nanoparticulate calcium carbonate
The Changzhou complex (Jiangsu province) of Changzhou North American Chemicals has recently been certified to ISO 9001:2000 for quality control management by Lloyd’s Register. The company produces azo and phthalocyanine lakes and solventbased pigments here. It claims to be the country’s largest manufacturer of organic pigments, with a capacity of 60,000 tonnes/y. It regularly exports more than 40,000 tonnes/y of organic pigments, mainly to markets in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
Guangdong Jiawei Chemicals Industrial Co Ltd has begun construction of its third and largest nanoparticulate calcium carbonate plant. On 29 November 2009, the foundation stone was laid at the plant site in Liuzhou-Liucheng (Guangxi province). Jiawei has budgeted Rmb 350 M for this project. When the 300,000 tonnes/y plant is fully operational, it will generate Rmb 600 M in annual sales revenue. Jiawei already has a 90,000 tonnes/y nanoparticulate calcium carbonate plant at Enping City (Guangdong province) and a 210,000 tonnes/y plant at Luoding (also in Guangdong province). The company claims to be the world’s largest supplier of nanoparticulate calcium carbonate, selling to customers in the paper, plastics, rubber and ink sectors.
PPCJ, Polymers, Paint, Colour Journal, Dec 2009, 199 (4543), 3
China: CMP/Tangshan Madison – calcined kaolin In ‘Focus on Pigments’, Jul 2009, 3, we reported on the start-up of a new calcined kaolin plant at Tangshan (Hebei province) by TangshanMadison, a subsidiary within the China Mineral Processing (CMP) group. At that time, the plant’s capacity was unknown. It has now been revealed that the Tangshan plant can produce 60,000 tonnes/y of calcined kaolin and it has been designed so as to facilitate doubling capacity to 120,000 tonnes/y, as warranted by market demand. The plant has been certified to ISO 9001:2008 standard by the UK office of Sté Générale de Surveillance (SGS). CMP sells its calcined kaolin in several different grades under the Snowhite brandname. All these products have an ISO brightness of more than 92. Snowhite 86, one of the most popular grades, is refined by screening so that 86% of the particles are less than 2 microns; the ISO brightness is 93.5 and the specific gravity is 2.7. Other grades include: Snowhite 65, Snowhite 70, Snowhite 80 and Snowhite 90. The Snowhite pigments are easily dispersible in water-based paint, possess excellent scrub-resistance and good wet-film opacity. CMP emphasises the costeffective selling features of reducing the average specific gravity of the final paint product and saving on TiO2 pigment usage. APCJ, Asia Pacific Coatings Journal, Dec 2009, 22 (6 (China country focus supplement)), 5
6
China Chemical Reporter, 16 Dec 2009, 20 (35), 16
Germany & US: Allessa & Flint – Alkali Blue pigments Allessa Chemie (formerly Casella Chemie, part of the Hoechst group) has announced that it will cease manufacturing Reflex Blue pigments, effective 1 April 2010. The company is closing down its Offenbach plant, near Frankfurt. Reflex Blue pigments are based on vegetable oils and they are mainly used as fining agents for black inks. Allessa is recommending that its customers switch to using Alkali Blue pigments, produced by Flint Group Pigments at Huntington, WV in the United States. Press Release from: Flint Group, 26b Boulevard Royal, L-2449 Luxembourg. Website: http://www.flintgrp.com (5 Feb 2010)
Germany: Wacker – fumed silica Wacker Chemie (headquartered in Munich) has announced plans to streamline its fumed silica operations. The plant at Kempten/Allgäu (130 km southwest of Munich) will be closed in 2011, with the loss of about 50 jobs. The closure will result in an assets impairment charge of €3.5 M and provision for employee severance and plant closure costs of €5.5 M, all of which will be booked to the company’s financial results for full-year 2009.
Production at Kempten will effectively be transferred to Wacker’s existing plants at Burghausen (115 km east of Munich) and Nünchritz (490 km north of Munich). The Nünchritz plant is going to be expanded. Wacker is world’s third-largest supplier of fumed silica (which it refers to as “pyrogenic silica”). Wacker markets its fumed silica under the brandname HDK for use as a functional filler in silicone elastomers and as a viscosity modifying agent in paints, printing inks, adhesives, unsaturated polyester resins and plastisols. It also serves as a rheological additive in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and food products. Press Release from: Wacker Chemie AG, Hanns Seidel Platz 4, D-81737, Munich, Germany. Website: http://www.wacker.com (14 Jan 2010)
India: Cambay Chem – dyes Cambay Chem Ltd plans to increase its dyes production capacity at Cambay in the Anand district of Gujarat province by nearly 40,000 tonnes/y. This will entail investment of Rup 395 M, of which Rup 25 M will be specifically dedicated to pollution control measures. The proposed expansion will create about 400 jobs for skilled and unskilled labourers and office staff. Chemical Weekly, 8 Dec 2009, 55 (17), 136
India: Phillips – carbon black Phillips Carbon Black declared its new 90,000 tonnes/y carbon black plant at Mundra (Gujarat province) to be fully on-stream, with effect from 17 October 2009. Chemical Weekly, 27 Oct 2009, 55 (11), 144
US: Addcomp – plastics masterbatch Addcomp Holland BV recently opened a new facility at Rochester Hills, MI, with a floor area of 1500 sq metres. The facility houses product storage, technical support offices and a materials analysis laboratory to support the provision of customformulated plastics masterbatches. At its Nijverdal plant in the Netherlands, Addcomp makes onepack additive systems, including compacted and masterbatch products, for use in polyolefin, polystyrene, polyester and polyamide
MARCH 2010
ON
PIGMENTS
China: Changzhou North American – organic pigments
China: Guangdong Jiawei Chemicals – nanoparticulate calcium carbonate
The Changzhou complex (Jiangsu province) of Changzhou North American Chemicals has recently been certified to ISO 9001:2000 for quality control management by Lloyd’s Register. The company produces azo and phthalocyanine lakes and solventbased pigments here. It claims to be the country’s largest manufacturer of organic pigments, with a capacity of 60,000 tonnes/y. It regularly exports more than 40,000 tonnes/y of organic pigments, mainly to markets in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
Guangdong Jiawei Chemicals Industrial Co Ltd has begun construction of its third and largest nanoparticulate calcium carbonate plant. On 29 November 2009, the foundation stone was laid at the plant site in Liuzhou-Liucheng (Guangxi province). Jiawei has budgeted Rmb 350 M for this project. When the 300,000 tonnes/y plant is fully operational, it will generate Rmb 600 M in annual sales revenue. Jiawei already has a 90,000 tonnes/y nanoparticulate calcium carbonate plant at Enping City (Guangdong province) and a 210,000 tonnes/y plant at Luoding (also in Guangdong province). The company claims to be the world’s largest supplier of nanoparticulate calcium carbonate, selling to customers in the paper, plastics, rubber and ink sectors.
PPCJ, Polymers, Paint, Colour Journal, Dec 2009, 199 (4543), 3
China: CMP/Tangshan Madison – calcined kaolin In ‘Focus on Pigments’, Jul 2009, 3, we reported on the start-up of a new calcined kaolin plant at Tangshan (Hebei province) by TangshanMadison, a subsidiary within the China Mineral Processing (CMP) group. At that time, the plant’s capacity was unknown. It has now been revealed that the Tangshan plant can produce 60,000 tonnes/y of calcined kaolin and it has been designed so as to facilitate doubling capacity to 120,000 tonnes/y, as warranted by market demand. The plant has been certified to ISO 9001:2008 standard by the UK office of Sté Générale de Surveillance (SGS). CMP sells its calcined kaolin in several different grades under the Snowhite brandname. All these products have an ISO brightness of more than 92. Snowhite 86, one of the most popular grades, is refined by screening so that 86% of the particles are less than 2 microns; the ISO brightness is 93.5 and the specific gravity is 2.7. Other grades include: Snowhite 65, Snowhite 70, Snowhite 80 and Snowhite 90. The Snowhite pigments are easily dispersible in water-based paint, possess excellent scrub-resistance and good wet-film opacity. CMP emphasises the costeffective selling features of reducing the average specific gravity of the final paint product and saving on TiO2 pigment usage. APCJ, Asia Pacific Coatings Journal, Dec 2009, 22 (6 (China country focus supplement)), 5
6
China Chemical Reporter, 16 Dec 2009, 20 (35), 16
Germany & US: Allessa & Flint – Alkali Blue pigments Allessa Chemie (formerly Casella Chemie, part of the Hoechst group) has announced that it will cease manufacturing Reflex Blue pigments, effective 1 April 2010. The company is closing down its Offenbach plant, near Frankfurt. Reflex Blue pigments are based on vegetable oils and they are mainly used as fining agents for black inks. Allessa is recommending that its customers switch to using Alkali Blue pigments, produced by Flint Group Pigments at Huntington, WV in the United States. Press Release from: Flint Group, 26b Boulevard Royal, L-2449 Luxembourg. Website: http://www.flintgrp.com (5 Feb 2010)
Germany: Wacker – fumed silica Wacker Chemie (headquartered in Munich) has announced plans to streamline its fumed silica operations. The plant at Kempten/Allgäu (130 km southwest of Munich) will be closed in 2011, with the loss of about 50 jobs. The closure will result in an assets impairment charge of €3.5 M and provision for employee severance and plant closure costs of €5.5 M, all of which will be booked to the company’s financial results for full-year 2009.
Production at Kempten will effectively be transferred to Wacker’s existing plants at Burghausen (115 km east of Munich) and Nünchritz (490 km north of Munich). The Nünchritz plant is going to be expanded. Wacker is world’s third-largest supplier of fumed silica (which it refers to as “pyrogenic silica”). Wacker markets its fumed silica under the brandname HDK for use as a functional filler in silicone elastomers and as a viscosity modifying agent in paints, printing inks, adhesives, unsaturated polyester resins and plastisols. It also serves as a rheological additive in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and food products. Press Release from: Wacker Chemie AG, Hanns Seidel Platz 4, D-81737, Munich, Germany. Website: http://www.wacker.com (14 Jan 2010)
India: Cambay Chem – dyes Cambay Chem Ltd plans to increase its dyes production capacity at Cambay in the Anand district of Gujarat province by nearly 40,000 tonnes/y. This will entail investment of Rup 395 M, of which Rup 25 M will be specifically dedicated to pollution control measures. The proposed expansion will create about 400 jobs for skilled and unskilled labourers and office staff. Chemical Weekly, 8 Dec 2009, 55 (17), 136
India: Phillips – carbon black Phillips Carbon Black declared its new 90,000 tonnes/y carbon black plant at Mundra (Gujarat province) to be fully on-stream, with effect from 17 October 2009. Chemical Weekly, 27 Oct 2009, 55 (11), 144
US: Addcomp – plastics masterbatch Addcomp Holland BV recently opened a new facility at Rochester Hills, MI, with a floor area of 1500 sq metres. The facility houses product storage, technical support offices and a materials analysis laboratory to support the provision of customformulated plastics masterbatches. At its Nijverdal plant in the Netherlands, Addcomp makes onepack additive systems, including compacted and masterbatch products, for use in polyolefin, polystyrene, polyester and polyamide
MARCH 2010