- Email: [email protected]
DuPont fleshes out details of performance chemicals spin-off; progresses with TiO2 expansion
STRATEGIES
home and industrial design, as well as product packaging and graphic design, for 15 years. Contact: Clariant International Ltd, Muttenz, Switzerland. Tel: +41 61 469 6742, Web: www.clariant.com Or contact: Pantone LLC, Carlstadt, NJ, USA. Tel: +1 201 935 5500, Web: www.pantone.co.uk Or contact: PolyOne Corp, Avon Lake, OH, USA. Tel: +1 440 930 1000, Web: www.polyone.com
COMPANY STRATEGIES ...Continued from front page and will have full accountability for improving execution through greater asset and market focus, agility and responsiveness, the company reports. Albemarle says it will provide financial transparency for each of the new business units, including lithium and bromine in Performance Chemicals. ‘This organizational structure will help us achieve our goal of growing faster and performing at even higher levels and help accelerate the identification and achievement of strategic synergies beyond the identified cost synergies’, says Luke Kissam, Albemarle’s president and CEO. ‘The new company will be structured to leverage its complementary fit, especially between lithium and bromine, allowing us to capitalize on our long-term lithium strategy while providing immediate scale and ability to leverage its similarities with bromine’, he further explains. Consistent with the new organizational structure, the company has also announced its senior leadership team, all reporting to Kissam. Michael Wilson has been appointed president of the Performance Chemicals GBU. He has served as president of Catalyst Solutions since 2013. Joris Merckx becomes president of Chemetall Surface Treatment, while Silvio Ghyoot will take that role at Refining Solutions. Matt Juneau will serve as senior VP, Corporate Strategy and Investor Relations, with senior VPs Susan Kelliher, Karen Narwold and Scott Tozier continuing in their current roles. The leadership team changes will become effective with the realignment of the GBUs before the end of the first quarter. Contact: Albemarle Corp, Baton Rouge, LA, USA. Tel: +1 225 388 7402, Web: www.albemarle.com
6
Additives for Polymers
DuPont fleshes out details of performance chemicals spin-off; progresses with TiO2 expansion
M
ore than a year after announcing its intention to spin off its performance chemicals segment to form a new, publicly traded company [ADPO, December 2013], DuPont has filed the initial registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, revealing the new entity’s name as The Chemours Company. DuPont has also disclosed the new company’s executive leadership team. The spin-off is scheduled for mid-2015. The Chemours name reflects a focus on the science of chemistry and the heritage of the du Pont family origins in Nemours, France, DuPont explains. The new company, which will trade on the New York Stock Exchange, will have approximately 9100 employees and 37 production facilities in 12 countries, spread across three segments: Titanium Technologies, Fluoroproducts and Chemical Solutions. Titanium Technologies will, as now, produce titanium dioxide (TiO2), and Fluoroproducts will produce refrigerants and industrial fluoropolymer resins such as Teflon. The Chemical Solutions segment will supply sodium cyanide, sulphuric acid, aniline and glycolic acid. Together, the three segments will serve more than 5000 customers worldwide. For the first nine months of 2014, these businesses had combined sales of US$4.88 billion, down from $5.20 billion for the same period in 2013 because of lower prices, DuPont reports. However, their net income for the three quarters was $321 million, up from $313 million a year earlier. Following the separation of the two companies, DuPont’s current executive VP Mark Vergnano will become president and CEO of Chemours, and Mark Newman will serve as senior VP and CFO. BC Chong and Thierry Vanlancker will continue to lead the Titanium Technologies and Fluoroproducts businesses, respectively. Additional members of the new company’s executive leadership team include Christian Siemer as head of the Chemical Solutions business and Bryan Snell, who will lead productivity and strategy. David Shelton is to be general counsel and corporate secretary, while Beth
March 2015
STRATEGIES
Albright will lead human resources, and Erich Parker corporate communications. DuPont has also announced that Chemours is to assume ownership of the DuPont Building in Wilmington following the spin-off, and its employees will relocate to the building by mid-2015. The move will bring Chemours employees together in one location, enabling them to ‘continue to build their operating model and to establish a unique identity and culture’, DuPont says. A final decision has not been made with respect to the ultimate headquarters location for Chemours. DuPont itself will consolidate its corporate HQ at the company’s Chestnut Run Plaza campus in Delaware’s New Castle County, effective 1 July 2015. This consolidation will optimize use of company facilities, support collaboration and improve efficiencies for both DuPont and Chemours, according to DuPont. The company observes that its new HQ will be a short distance from where it was founded in 1802 on the banks of the Brandywine River. For full-year 2014, DuPont’s sales fell 3% year on year to $34.7 billion, while its annual profit dropped 25% to about $3.6 billion. Sales for the fourth quarter fell 5% to $7.4 billion, although sales volumes rose 3%. Segment operating earnings grew 8% to $1.014 billion in 4Q 2014. The Performance Chemicals segment contributed $228 million to the earnings figure, 1% lower than a year ago because of lower TiO2 prices, the company says. In other news, DuPont Titanium Technologies’ expansion project at its existing high-efficiency, low-cost TiO2 plant in Altamira, Mexico, is reported to be on track for completion in 2015 and commencement of production in 2016. The new plant will enable the Titanium Technologies segment to improve the efficiency of its TiO2 production and increase its flexibility to adjust its production output up or down to respond to global demands. Global TiO2 demand typically grows by about 150 000–200 000 tonnes each year; the company says it expects demand ‘to increase gradually’ in the 2016–2018 time frame. ‘DuPont Titanium Technologies will leverage the cost advantage of its Altamira facility at start-up in 2016 and continue to manage its production assets in order to remain well-positioned to deliver high-quality TiO2 to meet the ever-changing needs of our customers’, says Chong. Contact: DuPont, Wilmington, DE, USA. Tel: +1 302 774 1000, Web: www.dupont.com
March 2015
Akcros Chemicals starts up production of pelletized biocides in USA
I
n the USA, Akcros Chemicals has started up inhouse production of solid forms of isothiazolone-based biocides at its New Brunswick facility in New Jersey. The company reports that it has invested more than US$1 million dollar in order to bring global customers ‘enhanced quality control, regulatory approvals and reliability of supply’ for Intercide™ biocides in pellet form. The Intercide product line was previously supplied only in liquid form. In 2013, Akcros Chemicals and Dow Microbial Control, a business of The Dow Chemical Co, extended their strategic relationship for biocides for plastics applications on a global basis [ADPO, October 2013]. Under this agreement, manufacturing equipment and expertise were transferred by Dow Microbial Control to Akcros to manufacture an enhanced line of isothiazolone-based solid carriers. These easy-to-use solid pellet form products, previously supplied under the Dow Vinyzene™ Biocide trade name, will now be manufactured in New Brunswick and brought to market by Akcros as part of its Intercide biocide product line for polymers. According to Vini Shah, Akcros’ biocide product manager, the Intercide product line manufactured at the New Jersey site consists of OIT (n-octyl-isothiazolone) and DCOIT (dichloro-n-octyl-isothiazolone) active biocides in both liquid and now solid polymer carriers. The products are typically used in the construction and home goods markets to inhibit the growth of harmful microorganisms on flexible PVC products. The company expects that production of the solid biocides at the New Brunswick plant will enhance control over the quality of the product, ease Environmental Protection Agency/Biocidal Products Regulation/Canadian approvals, and provide consistent supply. ‘The installation and start-up of the in-house production of solid biocide shows our commitment to the New Brunswick plant and employees as well as our push for more sustainable, environmentally friendly biocide products’, comments George Turk, New Brunswick plant manager. ‘With our New Brunswick-based supply chain and customer service, and comprehensive distribution channels, we will be able to service the global market efficiently’, he adds.
Additives for Polymers
7
home and industrial design, as well as product packaging and graphic design, for 15 years. Contact: Clariant International Ltd, Muttenz, Switzerland. Tel: +41 61 469 6742, Web: www.clariant.com Or contact: Pantone LLC, Carlstadt, NJ, USA. Tel: +1 201 935 5500, Web: www.pantone.co.uk Or contact: PolyOne Corp, Avon Lake, OH, USA. Tel: +1 440 930 1000, Web: www.polyone.com
COMPANY STRATEGIES ...Continued from front page and will have full accountability for improving execution through greater asset and market focus, agility and responsiveness, the company reports. Albemarle says it will provide financial transparency for each of the new business units, including lithium and bromine in Performance Chemicals. ‘This organizational structure will help us achieve our goal of growing faster and performing at even higher levels and help accelerate the identification and achievement of strategic synergies beyond the identified cost synergies’, says Luke Kissam, Albemarle’s president and CEO. ‘The new company will be structured to leverage its complementary fit, especially between lithium and bromine, allowing us to capitalize on our long-term lithium strategy while providing immediate scale and ability to leverage its similarities with bromine’, he further explains. Consistent with the new organizational structure, the company has also announced its senior leadership team, all reporting to Kissam. Michael Wilson has been appointed president of the Performance Chemicals GBU. He has served as president of Catalyst Solutions since 2013. Joris Merckx becomes president of Chemetall Surface Treatment, while Silvio Ghyoot will take that role at Refining Solutions. Matt Juneau will serve as senior VP, Corporate Strategy and Investor Relations, with senior VPs Susan Kelliher, Karen Narwold and Scott Tozier continuing in their current roles. The leadership team changes will become effective with the realignment of the GBUs before the end of the first quarter. Contact: Albemarle Corp, Baton Rouge, LA, USA. Tel: +1 225 388 7402, Web: www.albemarle.com
6
Additives for Polymers
DuPont fleshes out details of performance chemicals spin-off; progresses with TiO2 expansion
M
ore than a year after announcing its intention to spin off its performance chemicals segment to form a new, publicly traded company [ADPO, December 2013], DuPont has filed the initial registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, revealing the new entity’s name as The Chemours Company. DuPont has also disclosed the new company’s executive leadership team. The spin-off is scheduled for mid-2015. The Chemours name reflects a focus on the science of chemistry and the heritage of the du Pont family origins in Nemours, France, DuPont explains. The new company, which will trade on the New York Stock Exchange, will have approximately 9100 employees and 37 production facilities in 12 countries, spread across three segments: Titanium Technologies, Fluoroproducts and Chemical Solutions. Titanium Technologies will, as now, produce titanium dioxide (TiO2), and Fluoroproducts will produce refrigerants and industrial fluoropolymer resins such as Teflon. The Chemical Solutions segment will supply sodium cyanide, sulphuric acid, aniline and glycolic acid. Together, the three segments will serve more than 5000 customers worldwide. For the first nine months of 2014, these businesses had combined sales of US$4.88 billion, down from $5.20 billion for the same period in 2013 because of lower prices, DuPont reports. However, their net income for the three quarters was $321 million, up from $313 million a year earlier. Following the separation of the two companies, DuPont’s current executive VP Mark Vergnano will become president and CEO of Chemours, and Mark Newman will serve as senior VP and CFO. BC Chong and Thierry Vanlancker will continue to lead the Titanium Technologies and Fluoroproducts businesses, respectively. Additional members of the new company’s executive leadership team include Christian Siemer as head of the Chemical Solutions business and Bryan Snell, who will lead productivity and strategy. David Shelton is to be general counsel and corporate secretary, while Beth
March 2015
STRATEGIES
Albright will lead human resources, and Erich Parker corporate communications. DuPont has also announced that Chemours is to assume ownership of the DuPont Building in Wilmington following the spin-off, and its employees will relocate to the building by mid-2015. The move will bring Chemours employees together in one location, enabling them to ‘continue to build their operating model and to establish a unique identity and culture’, DuPont says. A final decision has not been made with respect to the ultimate headquarters location for Chemours. DuPont itself will consolidate its corporate HQ at the company’s Chestnut Run Plaza campus in Delaware’s New Castle County, effective 1 July 2015. This consolidation will optimize use of company facilities, support collaboration and improve efficiencies for both DuPont and Chemours, according to DuPont. The company observes that its new HQ will be a short distance from where it was founded in 1802 on the banks of the Brandywine River. For full-year 2014, DuPont’s sales fell 3% year on year to $34.7 billion, while its annual profit dropped 25% to about $3.6 billion. Sales for the fourth quarter fell 5% to $7.4 billion, although sales volumes rose 3%. Segment operating earnings grew 8% to $1.014 billion in 4Q 2014. The Performance Chemicals segment contributed $228 million to the earnings figure, 1% lower than a year ago because of lower TiO2 prices, the company says. In other news, DuPont Titanium Technologies’ expansion project at its existing high-efficiency, low-cost TiO2 plant in Altamira, Mexico, is reported to be on track for completion in 2015 and commencement of production in 2016. The new plant will enable the Titanium Technologies segment to improve the efficiency of its TiO2 production and increase its flexibility to adjust its production output up or down to respond to global demands. Global TiO2 demand typically grows by about 150 000–200 000 tonnes each year; the company says it expects demand ‘to increase gradually’ in the 2016–2018 time frame. ‘DuPont Titanium Technologies will leverage the cost advantage of its Altamira facility at start-up in 2016 and continue to manage its production assets in order to remain well-positioned to deliver high-quality TiO2 to meet the ever-changing needs of our customers’, says Chong. Contact: DuPont, Wilmington, DE, USA. Tel: +1 302 774 1000, Web: www.dupont.com
March 2015
Akcros Chemicals starts up production of pelletized biocides in USA
I
n the USA, Akcros Chemicals has started up inhouse production of solid forms of isothiazolone-based biocides at its New Brunswick facility in New Jersey. The company reports that it has invested more than US$1 million dollar in order to bring global customers ‘enhanced quality control, regulatory approvals and reliability of supply’ for Intercide™ biocides in pellet form. The Intercide product line was previously supplied only in liquid form. In 2013, Akcros Chemicals and Dow Microbial Control, a business of The Dow Chemical Co, extended their strategic relationship for biocides for plastics applications on a global basis [ADPO, October 2013]. Under this agreement, manufacturing equipment and expertise were transferred by Dow Microbial Control to Akcros to manufacture an enhanced line of isothiazolone-based solid carriers. These easy-to-use solid pellet form products, previously supplied under the Dow Vinyzene™ Biocide trade name, will now be manufactured in New Brunswick and brought to market by Akcros as part of its Intercide biocide product line for polymers. According to Vini Shah, Akcros’ biocide product manager, the Intercide product line manufactured at the New Jersey site consists of OIT (n-octyl-isothiazolone) and DCOIT (dichloro-n-octyl-isothiazolone) active biocides in both liquid and now solid polymer carriers. The products are typically used in the construction and home goods markets to inhibit the growth of harmful microorganisms on flexible PVC products. The company expects that production of the solid biocides at the New Brunswick plant will enhance control over the quality of the product, ease Environmental Protection Agency/Biocidal Products Regulation/Canadian approvals, and provide consistent supply. ‘The installation and start-up of the in-house production of solid biocide shows our commitment to the New Brunswick plant and employees as well as our push for more sustainable, environmentally friendly biocide products’, comments George Turk, New Brunswick plant manager. ‘With our New Brunswick-based supply chain and customer service, and comprehensive distribution channels, we will be able to service the global market efficiently’, he adds.
Additives for Polymers
7