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Germany: CalciTech – calcium carbonate, by solution carbonation
FOCUS 45,000 tonnes/y of polyphenylene sulfide compounds consumed in Europe & Japan Polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) is a polymer with high heat-resistance and mechanical strength. Its maximum service temperature is around 220°C and it is inert to any known solvent at temperatures up to 200°C. PPS compounds, reinforced with inorganic pigments/fillers or glass fibres, are being increasingly used as metal substitutes in the manufacture of vehicles, electrical and electronic equipment, and building materials. Rising prices of metals and the growing risk of theft of metal-containing equipment for its recyclable scrap-metal value make PPS an attractive alternative. DIC (formerly Dainippon Inks & Chemicals) is the world’s leading supplier of PPS compounds, ahead of ChevronPhillips and Ticona (a subsidiary of Celanese Corp). According to DIC, current demand for PPS compounds is 30,000 tonnes/y in Japan and 15,000 tonnes/y in Europe. In July 2011, DIC trebled the capacity of its PPS plant in Malaysia to 4500 tonnes/y at a cost of Yen 500 M. Effective 30 September 2011, DIC gained a manufacturing foothold in Europe with the acquisition of Solvay’s PPS compounds business. The company now plans to spend Yen 1.5 bn to build a new 6000 tonnes/y plant on the outskirts of Vienna (Austria) and Yen 8 bn to install a new production line at Kashima (Japan), due on-stream in 2013. Press Release from: DIC Corp, 7-20 Nihonbashi 3-chome, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 103-8233, tel: +81 3 3272 4511, Japan, website: http://www.dic.co.jp (7 Oct 2011)
Pigment & raw material costs force Sun/DIC to raise its printing ink prices Sun Chemical has raised the prices of all its printing ink products in all market regions, with effect from 1 December 2011. The increments varied according to chemical composition, with increments for sheet-fed inks being at the lowest end of the spectrum and cold-set black inks being at the highest end. Over the entire product range, the average price increase was around 6%. Prices
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for white inks (containing TiO2) and green inks (containing phthalocyanine PG-7) were increased by much more than 6%. Mr Felipe Mellado (Chief Marketing Officer) commented: “In 2011, raw materials (for making printing inks) experienced a record level of volatility as well as unprecedented price increases. TiO2 prices rose to a level more than 50% higher than the levels prevailing in early 2010. There were also very significant increases in the prices we paid for: nitrocellulose, energy cure resins, acrylics and other packaging resins, styrene, classical pigments, carbon black, vegetable oils, solvents, and additives.” Sun Chemical is a wholly-owned subsidiary of DIC (formerly Dainippon Inks & Chemicals, headquartered in Tokyo). DIC is the world’s largest producer of printing inks.
our original 100,000 tonnes/y plant concept developed in 2007.”
Press Release from: Sun Chemical Corp, 35 Waterview Boulevard, Parsippany, NJ 07054-1285, US, tel: + 1 (973) 404 6000, website: http://www.sunchemical.com/ (31 Oct 2011)
Original Source: Chemical Engineering World, Aug 2011, 46 (8), 92 (Website: http://www.cewindia.com/) © Jasubhai Group 2011
Press Releases from: CalciTech Ltd, PO Box 261, 1215 Geneva 15, Switzerland, website: http://www.calcitech.com (14 Nov & 5 Dec 2011)
India: McFills – reactive dyes McFills Enterprises Pvt Ltd (formerly Manish Chemicals) intends to build a new reactive dyes manufacturing plant in the Bharuch district of Gujarat, 180 km south of its long-established reactive dyes manufacturing plant in the Vatva industrial zone on the outskirts of Ahmedabad. The budget for the Bharuch project is Rup 500 M. Currently, McFills Enterprises produces up to 9000 tonnes/y of saltfree dyes at Vatva. As well as selling to the domestic market, McFills Enterprises exports reactive dyes to more than 15 countries.
India: Phillips – carbon black
PLANTS Germany: CalciTech – calcium carbonate, by solution carbonation CalciTech (of Geneva) has awarded a contract to Mott MacDonald (of the UK) for basic engineering design for a 50,000 tonnes/y solution-derived calcium carbonate (SCC) plant, to be built at the Agrochemie Park Piesteritz in Lutherstadt-Wittenberg (100 km southwest of Berlin) on the site of the chemical complex operated by SKW Stickstoffwerke Piesteritz GmbH (SKWP). SKWP (part of the Agrofert conglomerate, controlled by Mr Andrej Babis) is the largest producer of ammonia and urea in Germany and it is actively developing business on the 220 hectares Agro-Chemie Park. In addition to renting a suitable plot of land to CalciTech and providing utilities and site services, SKWP will supply the CO2 required for the new carbonate plant. Mr Thomas Livingstone-Learmonth (Chief Operating Officer of CalciTech Synthetic Minerals Europe Ltd) said: “This is the first of a number of smaller merchant plants that will be built in Europe. The project has required a design modification from
Phillips Carbon Black Ltd (part of the RP Goenka group) plans to more than double the capacity of its Cochin (Kerala) plant by June 2012. Capacity here will rise from 40,000 tonnes/y to 90,000 tonnes/y. The company is also debottlenecking its Durgapur (West Bengal) plant, raising capacity here from 135,000 tonnes/y to 147,000 tonnes/y. Original Source: Chemical Weekly, 22 Nov 2011, 144 (Website: http://www.chemicalweekly.com/) © Sevak Publications & Chemical Weekly Database P Ltd 2011
India: Satyavati Titaslag – TiO2 Satyavati Titaslag (of Hyderabad) wants to build a 40,000-50,000 tonnes/y TiO2 pigment plant and an ilmenite smelter of comparable scale at Nandigama (Krishna district, 220 km southeast of Hyderabad). Satyavati Titaslag has been negotiating with China’s National Institute of Process Engineering for the supply of technology to be employed at the ilmenite smelter. Associated Chinese enterprises and agencies are discussing the possibility of investing up to Rup 7 bn in this project. Original Source: Business Line, 8 Nov 2011, 18 (308), 4 (Website: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/) © The Hindu Business Line 2011
JANUARY 2012
Pigment & raw material costs force Sun/DIC to raise its printing ink prices Sun Chemical has raised the prices of all its printing ink products in all market regions, with effect from 1 December 2011. The increments varied according to chemical composition, with increments for sheet-fed inks being at the lowest end of the spectrum and cold-set black inks being at the highest end. Over the entire product range, the average price increase was around 6%. Prices
4
ON
PIGMENTS
for white inks (containing TiO2) and green inks (containing phthalocyanine PG-7) were increased by much more than 6%. Mr Felipe Mellado (Chief Marketing Officer) commented: “In 2011, raw materials (for making printing inks) experienced a record level of volatility as well as unprecedented price increases. TiO2 prices rose to a level more than 50% higher than the levels prevailing in early 2010. There were also very significant increases in the prices we paid for: nitrocellulose, energy cure resins, acrylics and other packaging resins, styrene, classical pigments, carbon black, vegetable oils, solvents, and additives.” Sun Chemical is a wholly-owned subsidiary of DIC (formerly Dainippon Inks & Chemicals, headquartered in Tokyo). DIC is the world’s largest producer of printing inks.
our original 100,000 tonnes/y plant concept developed in 2007.”
Press Release from: Sun Chemical Corp, 35 Waterview Boulevard, Parsippany, NJ 07054-1285, US, tel: + 1 (973) 404 6000, website: http://www.sunchemical.com/ (31 Oct 2011)
Original Source: Chemical Engineering World, Aug 2011, 46 (8), 92 (Website: http://www.cewindia.com/) © Jasubhai Group 2011
Press Releases from: CalciTech Ltd, PO Box 261, 1215 Geneva 15, Switzerland, website: http://www.calcitech.com (14 Nov & 5 Dec 2011)
India: McFills – reactive dyes McFills Enterprises Pvt Ltd (formerly Manish Chemicals) intends to build a new reactive dyes manufacturing plant in the Bharuch district of Gujarat, 180 km south of its long-established reactive dyes manufacturing plant in the Vatva industrial zone on the outskirts of Ahmedabad. The budget for the Bharuch project is Rup 500 M. Currently, McFills Enterprises produces up to 9000 tonnes/y of saltfree dyes at Vatva. As well as selling to the domestic market, McFills Enterprises exports reactive dyes to more than 15 countries.
India: Phillips – carbon black
PLANTS Germany: CalciTech – calcium carbonate, by solution carbonation CalciTech (of Geneva) has awarded a contract to Mott MacDonald (of the UK) for basic engineering design for a 50,000 tonnes/y solution-derived calcium carbonate (SCC) plant, to be built at the Agrochemie Park Piesteritz in Lutherstadt-Wittenberg (100 km southwest of Berlin) on the site of the chemical complex operated by SKW Stickstoffwerke Piesteritz GmbH (SKWP). SKWP (part of the Agrofert conglomerate, controlled by Mr Andrej Babis) is the largest producer of ammonia and urea in Germany and it is actively developing business on the 220 hectares Agro-Chemie Park. In addition to renting a suitable plot of land to CalciTech and providing utilities and site services, SKWP will supply the CO2 required for the new carbonate plant. Mr Thomas Livingstone-Learmonth (Chief Operating Officer of CalciTech Synthetic Minerals Europe Ltd) said: “This is the first of a number of smaller merchant plants that will be built in Europe. The project has required a design modification from
Phillips Carbon Black Ltd (part of the RP Goenka group) plans to more than double the capacity of its Cochin (Kerala) plant by June 2012. Capacity here will rise from 40,000 tonnes/y to 90,000 tonnes/y. The company is also debottlenecking its Durgapur (West Bengal) plant, raising capacity here from 135,000 tonnes/y to 147,000 tonnes/y. Original Source: Chemical Weekly, 22 Nov 2011, 144 (Website: http://www.chemicalweekly.com/) © Sevak Publications & Chemical Weekly Database P Ltd 2011
India: Satyavati Titaslag – TiO2 Satyavati Titaslag (of Hyderabad) wants to build a 40,000-50,000 tonnes/y TiO2 pigment plant and an ilmenite smelter of comparable scale at Nandigama (Krishna district, 220 km southeast of Hyderabad). Satyavati Titaslag has been negotiating with China’s National Institute of Process Engineering for the supply of technology to be employed at the ilmenite smelter. Associated Chinese enterprises and agencies are discussing the possibility of investing up to Rup 7 bn in this project. Original Source: Business Line, 8 Nov 2011, 18 (308), 4 (Website: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/) © The Hindu Business Line 2011
JANUARY 2012