France & Italy: Clariant – plastics masterbatches

France & Italy: Clariant – plastics masterbatches

FOCUS plastics masterbatch plant in the Meiyan Hi-Tech Development Zone near Wujiang (Jiangsu province). Seven employees were seriously injured. The c...

48KB Sizes 9 Downloads 260 Views

FOCUS plastics masterbatch plant in the Meiyan Hi-Tech Development Zone near Wujiang (Jiangsu province). Seven employees were seriously injured. The cause of the explosion has not yet been identified. China Chemical Reporter, 6 Jul 2006, 17 (19), 13

China: Zhuzhou Chemical & China National Salt – TiO2 China National Salt Industry Corp signed an agreement with the Hunan provincial government on 19 June 2006, whereby it acquired full operational control of the Hunan Zhuzhou Chemical Industry Group, which produces sulfate-route TiO2 pigment, sulfuric acid, phosphate fertilisers, chloralkalis, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and hydrazine. The TiO2 plant is located in the Qingshuitang district of Zhuzhou and it has been expanded in recent years from 8000 tonnes/y to the current 30,000 tonnes/y. Under the agreement with the Hunan government, China National Salt will merge with Hunan Light Industry & Salt Industry and the merged entity will then take a Stock Exchange listing. China Chemical Reporter, 16 Jul 2006, 17 (20), 9

France: Addiplast – plastic compounds Addiplast intends to increase its capacity for making coloured plastic compounds from 20,000 tonnes/y to 26,000 tonnes/y at its Saint Paul de Mons plant in the Auvergne region. The company has 55 employees and reported sales revenue at €14.7 M for full-year 2005, with a net profit margin of 5%. It is keen to expand its sales in East European markets and recently opened a new sales office at Bratislava (Slovakia). Plastiques et Caoutchoucs Magazine, Feb 2006, (837), 25 (in French)

France & Italy: Clariant – plastics masterbatches Clariant is planning to move its coloured masterbatch production in France from Mantes-la-Jolie (on the western outskirts of Paris) to CergyPontoise (in the northern suburbs of Paris). Production at the company’s other French sites, including

4

ON

PIGMENTS

Lamottes. Brignais, Mulhouse and Troyes, will be unaffected. Meanwhile, in Italy Clariant recently opened a new ColorWorks centre at Merate. From here, the group will offer a range of services including colour consultations, threedimensional modelling, moulding, extrusion and compounding. By encouraging its customers to consider colorants at an early stage, the company hopes to cut the time taken to get new products to market and hopes to promote effective colour use, initially in packaging, polyolefins and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Double Liaison, Jul 2006, 3 (551), 67 (in French)

France: Millennium – TiO2 A fire broke out at Millennium’s TiO2 complex at Le Havre at about 3:00 pm on Tuesday 4 July, but it was brought under control within two hours. The fire apparently started during routine maintenance on one of the 15 M litre tanks for liquid sulfur at the Le Havre site. According to the Normandy regional environmental authority, for about 15 minutes the sulfur concentration in the air around the site reached 347 mg/cu m. By 5:00 pm, the concentration had dropped to 70 mg/cu m. There were no personal injuries reported and sulfuric acid and TiO2 pigment production at the site were not affected by this incident. Chimie Pharma Hebdo, 10 Jul 2006, (347), (Website: http://www.france-chimie.com) (in French)

France: Toyo Ink – organic pigments & printing inks Toyo Ink embarked on a programme to rationalise its global operations last year. (See ‘Focus on Pigments’, Sep 2005, 5). In Europe, Toyo Ink’s principal subsidiary is Francolor Pigments, which manufactures 10,000 tonnes/y of diarylide yellow and highperformance organic pigments at Villiers St Paul and Oissel. Because of competition from Indian suppliers in the classic organic pigments sector, Francolor has been concentrating more and more on high-performance pigments. Toyo Ink has now declared that it will set up a printing inks factory at one of its two Francolor sites. The factory should be ready for production by March 2007. Japan Chemical Week, 13 Jul 2006, 47 (2375), 1

India, Belgium & Nigeria: Ashapura – kaolin, bentonite & barytes The Ashapura group (of Mumbai, India) has established a joint venture with Amcol International (of Arlington Heights, IL) to operate facilities in Belgium (probably at Antwerp) for importing, grinding and packaging kaolin and bentonite. Ashapura has also signed agreements with local partners for establishing barytes processing facilities in Nigeria and bentonite processing facilities in Azerbaijan. The company plans to double its kaolin capacity at Bhuj (Gujarat) to 60,000 tonnes/y, as part of its programme for establishing a more prominent position in the global kaolin industry. (See also ‘Focus on Pigments’, Jun 2006, 4). Industrial Minerals, Jul 2006, (486), 9

Japan: Shiraishi – food grade CaCO3 Shiraishi Kogyo Kaisha has embarked on construction work on a new plant to make 5000 tonnes/y of food-grade calcium carbonate at Fuji (Shizuoka prefecture). ¥ 2 bn has been budgeted for this project. Full-scale production should commence in Spring 2008. Japan Chemical Week, 29 Jun 2006, 47 (2373), 2

Mexico: USAC – antimony oxide The Mexican Government has granted US Antimony Corp (USAC) operating permits to mine antimony minerals and produce antimony oxide in Mexico. Earlier this year, the company acquired title to a substantial deposit of antimony and silver in the Coahuila district of Querataro province. It intends to commence production of antimony oxide in this area by the end of 2006, based on mineral feedstock from its Mexican mine and other Central American sources. (See also ‘Focus on Pigments’, May 2006, 3). USAC has been mining an antimony mineral deposit at Thompson Falls, Montana, since 1969. It also produces antimony metal, sodium antimonate and antimony oxide in different grades (particle sizes), employing proprietary furnace technology. The company sells its antimony oxide mainly for use as a synergistic flame retardant (with a

SEPTEMBER 2006