STRATEGIES
the synthetic fibres, plastics and paints industries, among others. Color Pigments and Services focuses on developing and manufacturing high value-added inorganic pigments in powder, granular and liquid grades for global construction, paints and coatings, plastics and speciality application markets. Operating under the Gomet brand, the Rubber/Thermoplastics Compounding business provides rubber, thermoplastic and polyurethane materials primarily to the European automotive market. The other two businesses produce timber protection chemicals and flocculants for water treatment. The five businesses had combined net sales of $1.45 billion in 2012, with 3300 employees and 20 plants worldwide. Sachtleben, which employs 2200, was Rockwood’s largest business unit in 2012, with annual sales of almost $900 million and EBITDA of $33 million. That sales total was down more than 4% compared with 2011, while the unit’s 2012 pre-tax profit of $165 million was down 36% over the same period. Huntsman’s TiO2 pigments division achieved sales of $1.44 billion in 2012 but has also been experiencing declining performance recently. However, the company anticipates that TiO2 demand ‘will… recover in the coming quarters’. According to Peter R. Huntsman, president and CEO of Huntsman Corp, the Sachtleben acquisition is ‘the next step in our long-term value creation strategy’ for the pigments business. Initially, Huntsman will focus on strengthening the pigments business and capturing approximately $130 million in expected annual cost savings by the end of 2015. However, within two years of completing the acquisition, the company plans ‘to further unlock value’ through a public offering of the combined pigments business, Huntsman reveals. ‘In addition to creating a $3 billion pigments leader, we believe this public offering will allow greater investor focus and appreciation for our differentiated businesses’, the CEO says. Huntsman says it would retain a majority stake in the new pigments business. [It should be noted that DuPont – despite its leading market position – revealed in July that it is also considering selling its TiO2 division as one of several ‘strategic options’ for its Performance Chemicals segment.] Commenting for Rockwood, chairman and CEO Seifi Ghasemi says that the sale of these businesses represents the successful completion of all ‘key objectives for 2013’. During the year, the company has also divested its advanced ceramics business, and recently sold its claybased additives to Altana AG for $635 million.
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Additives for Polymers
Contact: Huntsman Corp, The Woodlands, TX, USA. Tel: +1 281 719 6000, Web: www.huntsman.com Or contact: Rockwood Holdings, Inc, Princeton, NJ, USA. Tel: +1 609 514 0300, Web: www.rocksp.com
Clariant expands pigments operations in China with acquisition, new plant
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peciality chemicals company Clariant has acquired the Organic Pigment business of Jiangsu Multicolor Fine Chemical Co, Ltd (JMC), a leading supplier of several types of high-performance pigments and pigment preparations in China. As part of the project, Clariant also plans to build a new plant in Jiangsu Province. The financial details of the investments have not been disclosed. JMC manufactures and markets pigments and pigment preparations, mainly for customers in coatings, plastics and printing inks in the domestic and export markets. The business recorded sales of RMB210 million (approximately E26 million). In addition to the acquisition of JMC, Clariant is to build a world-scale Pigment PV23 plant in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province. The plant will be designed to ensure the highest yields, lowest cost and highest efficiency in terms of sustainable operations, as well as full compliance with local and international regulatory standards, the company says. According to Clariant, the bolt-on acquisition and subsequent investment in the new plant allows it to expand its pigments and pigment preparation activities in China in order to have better access to customers in the region, and especially in China. The new plant, together with the other facilities in the company’s manufacturing network, ‘reinforces its ongoing commitment’ to fulfil the growing demand of customers in coatings, plastics, printing inks and other applications for high-quality products and solutions, it explains. The related investments are in step with Clariant’s strategy of taking advantage of growth opportunities in Asia. ‘In line with our business strategy, this acquisition and investment enables us to further expand our manufacturing footprint in Asia and to grow in attractive segments of the pigment markets. It will strengthen our ability to capture the growing demand for high-performance pigments and pigment preparations
November 2013
STRATEGIES
in China and in other key markets in Asia’, says Marco Cenisio, head of Clariant’s Business Unit Pigments. In other news from Clariant, the company has recently opened its latest ColorWorks facility, in West Chicago, IL, USA. The opening culminates nearly three years of planning and renovation and represents a major investment by Clariant in support of customers in the USA and Canada, it says. The new centre is one of several such sites around the world that are aimed at helping companies accelerate new products to market and use colour more effectively to cultivate brand recognition and value. The facility has a significant competence in packaging, but is able to serve any market, according to Clariant. Located on the second floor of a building that also houses a Clariant Masterbatches colour compounding operation, ColorWorks North America brings together creative resources and prototyping equipment. Employing six full-time staff, it comprises a 3800 ft2 Co-Creation Studio and a 2400 ft2 Processing Lab. The latter houses lab- and production-scale plastics-processing equipment dedicated to making sample moulded parts for colour evaluation. In this integrated design/processing environment, it becomes possible to evaluate multiple different formulations in a few hours, Clariant claims. Trials and testing that used to take weeks can be completed in a matter of days, it says.
‘proof point of Dow’s rigorous focus on return on capital’, and squarely in line with commitments the company made earlier in the year to accelerate value creation and deliver long-term, sustainable growth for the company. However, in his presentation to the Credit Suisse conference Liveris was reported as saying that Dow was ‘quite comfortable’ running the additives operation for cash. ‘This is a valuable business that is currently being undervalued by buyers in the market’ and, as a result, Dow was ‘pulling the transaction off the market’, he reportedly told delegates. Liveris did not reveal what offers had been made for the additives division, but analysts have estimated its value at around US$520 million. The business generates annual revenues of about $680 million and EBITDA of $80 million. Since 2009, Dow has divested non-core businesses representing some $8 billion in revenue, including the sale of the stabilizers component of its plastics additives business to PMC Group [ibid., April 2013], and was hoping to realize almost $1.5 billion from further divestitures by the second half of 2014.
Contact: Clariant International Ltd, Muttenz, Switzerland. Tel: +41 61 469 6742, Web: www.clariant.com
Cabot, Risun commission carbon black plant in Xingtai
Dow Chemical takes plastics additives off the market
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t the Chemical and Ag Science Conference organized by Credit Suisse in New York on 17 September, Dow Chemical’s chairman and CEO Andrew Liveris revealed that the company’s plastics additives business is no longer for sale. The decision to take the division off the market was apparently taken because Dow did not receive sufficiently high bids. Back in March this year, the US chemical giant had signalled that the additives operation was for sale, along with its polypropylene licensing and catalysts business unit [ADPO, May 2013]. At that juncture, Liveris described the two business units as ‘assets that are no longer a strategic or financial fit’, and the decision to sell them as another
November 2013
Contact: The Dow Chemical Company, Midland, MI, USA. Tel: +1 989 636 1000, Web: www.dow.com
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n China, Cabot Corp, via its local subsidiary Cabot (China) Ltd, and joint venture partner Risun Chemical Co have completed and commissioned their new carbon black manufacturing facility in Xingtai, Hebei Province, China. Plans for the new state-of-the-art plant were announced in early 2011 with ground-breaking taking place about a year later in April 2012 [ADPO, May 2011 & June 2012]. The partners have invested approximately US$140 million in the new facility, with Cabot owning a 60% equity interest. The site’s Phase I annual manufacturing capacity will be 130 000 tonnes of carbon black for the global tyre market. Utilizing proprietary technology, the plant will produce Cabot’s ultra-reinforcing products Vulcan® 9, Vulcan 10H and Vulcan 10HD for the manufacture of highperformance tyres. The new plant employs advanced emissions control and energy efficiency technology to minimize environmental impact and simultaneously reduce energy
Additives for Polymers
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