China: PolyOne – masterbatch

F O C US negotiations to build a new chlorideroute TiO2 plant at DongYing in Shandong province. If the project comes to fruition, it will be the first major foreign direct investment in the Chinese TiO2 industry. (See also ‘Focus on Pigments’, Apr 2005, 4). DuPont’s formal announcement gave no indications as to the scale of investment, nor as to the pigment capacity to be installed. At the time, most of the European and US chemical trade press indicated that DuPont would commit $200-300 M to this project, representing an initial capacity of up to 75,000 tonnes/y. But ‘CCR’ (the Chinese journal) has recently reported that $700-800 M will be invested in the DongYing province and that initial TiO2 pigment capacity will be of the order of 200,000 tonnes/y. The plant is expected to come on-stream before the end of 2009. China Chemical Reporter, 16 Jul 2005, 16 (20), 11

China: Guangxi Guilin Jinshan – calcium carbonate Guangxi Guilin Jinshan Chemical Works has committed RMB Yuan 150 M to establish a 300,000 tonnes/y light calcium carbonate plant at Jinshan. When it is up and running, the plant is expected to generate annual sales revenues of around RMB Yuan 500 M. Further expansion – to 400,000 tonnes/y – is envisaged. China Chemical Reporter, 6 Aug 2005, 16 (22), 14

China: Plastrade – plastics masterbatch Plastrade Technology Bhd (of Malaysia) intends to build a new plant in the Shanghai area for making plastics masterbatch and plastic compound composites. The plant should be on-stream by February 2007. For full-year 2004, Plastrade reported a pre-tax profit of Ringgit 3.24 M on revenues of Ringgit 40.72 M. The Star, 15 Aug 2005 (Website: http://www.thestar.com.my)

China: PolyOne – masterbatch PolyOne Corp has officially inaugurated a new manufacturing complex at Shenzhen (Guangdong

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province). The new facilities can produce up to 10,000 tonnes/y of colour and additive masterbatches, engineering polymers and polymer coatings. Sales to Asian customers currently account for only 4% of PolyOne’s total global revenues and the company envisages substantially increasing this ratio on the back of forecast 10-15% per annum growth in China’s consumption of all types of plastic. High Performance Plastics, Aug 2005, 10

France: Millennium – TiO2 Last year, Millennium (one of the business units within the Lyondell group) wrote-down to zero the carrying value of its assets at the Le Havre TiO2 pigment plant. It also retired some of the older sections of the plant, reducing effective capacity here to 65,000 tonnes/y. The workforce at Le Havre was due to be reduced from 404 to 274, though ‘CPH’ reports that there are still 320 people on the payroll at the present time. (See ‘Focus on Pigments’, Aug 2004, 4). Effluent disposal, in compliance with EU regulations, has been an ongoing problem here in recent years. Soon after Millennium took over the plant from Rhône-Poulenc, it proposed a solution to the wastes problem, entailing an investment of €35 M, partly financed with the help of a loan from the Seine-Maritime water authority. A special waste storage facility was established at Hode, connected to the pigment plant by a 17 km pipeline. Vivendi was the project engineer and the installation was completed in mid-2002. However, after a few months it became clear that microfissures were developing in the pipeline and it was declared unusable! Millennium was therefore obliged to apply to the environmental authorities for a waiver in respect of effluent disposal thresholds. Following the takeover of Millennium by Lyondell last December, Lyondell resolved to remedy the situation by installing a completely new pipeline at a cost of €6 M. This should be in place by the end of 2006. Chimie Pharma Hebdo, 25 Jul 2005, (307), 12 (in French)

Germany: Grace Davison – Shieldex anti-corrosion pigments Grace Davison, a division within WR Grace & Co, has expanded its capacity for making anti-corrosion pigments at Worms (just north of Mannheim). Grace Davison’s anticorrosive pigments are marketed under the brandname Shieldex and they represent non-toxic alternatives to chrome pigments. No figures have been released on the scale of production, but the increase in capacity is described as being of the order of 50%. Farbe und Lack, Jul 2005, 111 (7), 18 (in German)

India: Phillips – carbon black At its Durgapur plant in West Bengal, Phillips Carbon Black can currently produce up to 125,000 tonnes/y of carbon black. Other plants at Vadodara (Gujarat province) and at Kochi (Kerala province) can produce a further 145,000 tonnes/y, bringing the Phillips group’s total to 270,000 tonnes/y. An ambitious expansion programme has been outlined for the Durgapur plant, with the backing of RP Goenka conglomerate, which owns more than 50% of the shares in Phillips. Goenka proposes selling a substantial block of its shares, raising about Rup 2.25 bn. About half of this extra finance would be devoted to the establishment of a new 35 MW power plant at the Durgapur complex. Subsequently – by 2010 – the power plant will be expanded to 100 MW, enabling carbon black capacity at Durgapur to be increased to 500,000 tonnes/y. Meanwhile, Phillips intends to change its financial year-end from September to March, effective as from next year. Business Line, 25 Jun 2005, 12 (175), 2 & 30 Jul 2005, 12 (210), 3

Madagascar & Canada: Rio Tinto – TiO2 feedstock Rio Tinto Iron & Titanium is going ahead with its plans to mine ilmenite on the southeastern coast of Madagascar, near Fort Dauphin, following completion of a final feasibility study. Conventional dredge mining techniques will be used and

AUGUST 2005