- Email: [email protected]
Germany: Pyrolyx – carbon black from scrap tyres
F O C US from industrial chemicals, 17% from fluoropolymers and 16% from fluorochemicals. According to Mr Mitsch, Chemours’s shares will be priced at around $7 each, while the share price of the remaining “core DuPont” will be around $65. Those figures compare against the endSeptember 2014 price of $70 per share for the whole entity. The TiO2 industry’s fifth largest player – Tronox – has often repeated its goal, which is to become a “largerscaled, globally cost-competitive fully integrated producer of TiO2 pigment.” The company has favourable tax attributes worth $9.8 bn and would therefore be well poised to expand by acquisition – of Chemours? Or of Huntsman Pigments? Or of Kronos? Meanwhile, average earnings for the major quoted TiO2 producers fell by 70% from 1Q 2012 to 2Q 2014. At the same time, average earnings for the major US-based paintmakers have steadily trended upwards. In conclusion, Mr Mitsch gave his top three tips for stock purchases, looking to future prospects for improving shareholder value – Dow Chemical, LyondellBasell and PPG Industries. A comprehensive review of the second and third days of the Montreal Conference will be published in next month’s issue of ‘Focus on Pigments’. Reg Adams 1) Reviews of the Rome conference (1-3 October 2013) were published in ‘Focus on Pigments’, Dec 2013, 1-3 & Jan 2014, 1-4 2) Reviews of the Barcelona conference (30 April – 2 May 2013) were published in ‘Focus on Pigments’, Sep 2013, 1-4 & Oct 2013, 1-2 & Nov 2013, 1-4 3) For those who were unable to attend the event, the full set of published papers from the Montreal Pigment & Colour Science Forum & TiO2 World Summit conferences (7-9 October 2014) is available for sale. For details, please contact: Mr Andrew Smaha, Smithers Rapra, 19 Northbrook Drive, Portland, ME 04105, USA. Tel: +1 (207) 781 9800. E-mail: [email protected] 4) ‘The Future of High Performance & Speciality Pigments to 2019’, 175 pp, 100 tables & charts. Price: £3950 or $6511.34 or €4720.29 for single-user licence electronic copy (in *.PDF format). For details, please contact Smithers Rapra – Mr Brian Santos, Portland ME 04105, USA, tel: +1 (207) 781 9618 or Mr Bill Allen, Leatherhead, Surrey KT22 7RU, UK, tel: +44 (0)1372 802086. Website: http://info.smithersrapra.com/publishing/SMRMR201 4005/the-future-of-high-performance-and-specialtypigments-to-2019
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PLANTS Canada: Imerys – talc Imerys has completed the first phase of the expansion project at its talc processing plant at Timmins in upstate Ontario (725 km north of Toronto). The company installed a unit employing proprietary beneficiation technology which enables the production of a minimum 92% GE brightness, lamellar, micronised talc for the first time in North America. This type of talc is said to be the best grade for use as a pigment/filler with polypropylene. Lacking indigenous sources of bright, platy talc ore, North American customers in the polypropylene sector have hitherto relied mainly on imports from China and Pakistan. As a competitive import substitute, Imerys recently launched JetWhite-7C, with 92% GE brightness and an average particle size rating of 7 on the Hegman scale (around 12.5 microns). Original Source: Compounding World, Sep 2014, 10 (Website: http://www.amiplastics.com/mags) © Applied Market Information Ltd 2014
about 200 people when it is fully up and running. It will be capable of producing 70,000 tonnes/y of finished iron oxide pigments. The unit should be ready to commence production in 1Q 2016. Lanxess states that both the 25,000 tonnes/y plant and the 70,000 tonnes/y pigment-finishing unit will “process raw pigments from other Lanxess sites.” In a recent interview, Mr Joerg Hellwig (Head of Lanxess’s Inorganic Pigments business unit) explained that the decision to extend the Ningbo complex was motivated by the currently anticipated 3% per annum growth in global demand for iron oxide pigments. The company has also declared that at the end of 2016 it will shut down its existing 35,000 tonnes/y pigment-finishing unit (with mixing and milling facilities), located in the Shanghai-Taopu district. The Shanghai City Council will then integrate the vacated site into its Putuo Industrial Estate. Original Source: Lanxess AG, Kennedyplatz 1, 50569 Köln, Germany, website: http://www.lanxess.com (11 Sep 2014) © Lanxess 2014. Original Source: Chimie Pharma Hebdo, 15 Sep 2014, (688), (Website: http://www.industrie.com/chimie/) (in French) © ETAI Information 2014
China: Lanxess – iron oxide pigments About 18 months ago, Lanxess AG announced that it would invest €55 M to build a new 25,000 tonnes/y red iron oxide pigments plant at the Ningbo Chemical Industry Park (150 km southeast of Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province). The plant has been designed to employ the latest improved version of the Penniman process, which offers a number of advantages in terms of sustainable development. Construction work is now well underway and the plant is due to come on-stream next year. When it is up and running, it will provide employment for 150 people. The target completion date for this project is March 2015. (See also ‘Focus on Pigments’, Mar 2013, 5). In mid-September 2014, Lanxess declared that it plans to install an iron oxide pigment-finishing unit at the Ningbo site, incorporating pigment blending and milling facilities. The capital cost of this unit is estimated at €5 M, bringing the company’s total investment at Ningbo to €60 M. The new pigment-finishing unit will employ
Germany: Pyrolyx – carbon black from scrap tyres Pyrolyx AG (of Munich) was recently granted US Patent 13/498,032 and Chinese Patent 2009/8016/26128 in respect of its process for the recovery of carbon black from scrap tyres. The company is now completing the engineering process design for its first commercial-scale plant, which should come on-stream at an as yet undisclosed location in Germany. The plant should be ready to commence production next year. No details have been released on the proposed scale of carbon black production. Once the new German plant is up and running, Pyrolyx – together with Zeppelin Systems (of Friedrichshafen) – will begin actively marketing turnkey projects employing the technology on a worldwide basis. According to Pyrolyx, about 3.2 M tonnes of scrap tyres become available each year within the EU. About 50% of them are used as fuel in cement furnaces. Some of the remainder are ground into rubber NOVEMBER 2014
F O C US granules for use in highways construction and flooring materials. But about 130,000 tonnes/y of scrap tyres are dumped at landfill sites. Pyrolyx also states that more than 20 M tonnes/y of crude oil (or the equivalent as natural gas) are required to sustain current global production of carbon black. These facts support the company’s claim that the widespread use of its technology for dealing with scrap tyres would represent a significant environmental improvement. Essentially, the Pyrolyx process involves incinerating scrap tyre granules at 350-700°C in the absence of oxygen. The carbon black product is said to contain minimal traces of polyaromatic hydrocarbons and similar toxic or carcinogenic components. Original Source: European Rubber Journal, 26 Aug 2014, (Website: http://www.european-rubberjournal.com) © Crain Communications Ltd 2014. Original Source: Pyrolyx AG, Nymphenburger Strasse 70, 80335 München, Germany, website: http://www.pyrolyx.com (20 Aug 2014) © Pyrolyx 2014
India: Clariant – pigments & pigment preparations A small ceremony was held at Clariant’s Roha complex on 17 September to mark the completion of a major expansion to the company’s capacity for making a variety of organic pigments and pigment preparations there. Previously, this project had been described as representing a 50% increase in the company’s azo pigments and pigment preparations. Roha (120 km south of Mumbai and 120 km west of Pune) has become one of Clariant’s most important manufacturing complexes in India, at the same time as the company is phasing-out its operations at ThaneKolshet. (See ‘Focus on Pigments’, Jun 2013, 6 & Sep 2013, 6). Clariant spent SFR 2.3 M (equivalent to Rup 200 M) to bring its latest Roha project to fruition. The project was part of a strategic programme that the company has been carrying out in recent years to support customers in emerging markets with high quality products which comply with local and international eco-labelling schemes. Pigments and pigment preparations manufactured at Roha are destined NOVEMBER 2014
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for use in interior and exterior paints, packaging, personal, home and fabric care products, seed coatings, and dispersions for the printing industry. The increased output from Roha will be mainly sold to customers in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Original Source: Clariant International AG, Rothaustrasse 61, 4132 Muttenz 1, Switzerland, website: http://www.clariant.com (17 Sep 2014) © Clariant 2014
India: Gharda Chemicals – TiO2 from bauxite processing wastes More than 75 M tonnes/y of “red mud” are generated worldwide as a waste product (in the form of a sludge containing 50-60% Fe2O3) from the processing of bauxite to alumina. Gharda Chemicals Ltd has developed a process for recovering marketable products from this material, including TiO2 plus elemental iron and aluminium. The process, as described in US Patent 8,540,951 (granted in September 2013), entails significantly lower electricity consumption than conventional alternatives. Gharda Chemicals now plans to build a pilot facility at Lote Parshuram (225 km south of Mumbai) to demonstrate the feasibility of its process. No details have been released as to the scale of the capital cost nor as to the projected output. For the latest financial year, to endMarch 2014, Gharda Chemicals reported total sales revenue at Rup 11.3 bn (equivalent to $184 M), of which exports account for 60%. Pesticides and crop protection chemicals make the largest contribution to total revenues, but the company also has a flourishing organic pigments business. It entered the pigments industry in November 2003, when it began producing carbazole violet (PV-23). The company’s portfolio now includes: pyrrole red (PR-254), quinaphthalone yellow (PY-138), benzimidazolone yellow (PY-151) and indanthrone blue (PB-60). With this background, Gharda Chemicals might be well placed to join the ranks of Indian TiO2 pigment producers. Original Source: Chemical Weekly, 15 Jul 2014, 148,150 (Website: http://www.chemicalweekly.com) © Sevak Publications & Chemical Weekly Database P Ltd 2014. Original Source: Gharda Chemicals, 48 Hill Road, Bandra West, Mumbai 400050, India, website: http://www.gharda.com (4 Jul 2014) © Gharda Chemicals 2014
India: PolyOne – plastic masterbatches & liquid colorants On 17 September 2014, PolyOne (headquartered at Avon Lake, 35 km west of Cleveland, OH) celebrated the official opening of its new manufacturing complex near Pune in Maharashtra province. The complex, located on the Ranjangaon Industrial Estate, about 50 km northeast of Pune city-centre, houses facilities for making speciality solid plastic masterbatches, liquid colorants and additives. Sales offices, a technical service centre and research laboratories are also located on the Ranjangaon site. Key end-use markets for the PolyOne products produced here are: transport, healthcare, wire and cable and packaging. PolyOne is one of the world’s top five suppliers of plastic masterbatches, compounds and colorants. As well as the Ranjangaon complex in India, PolyOne’s other manufacturing facilities in Asia include: Dongguan, ShanghaiPudong, Shenzhen, Suzhou and Tianjin (China); Singapore; and Bangplee Samutprakarn (Thailand). In Europe, PolyOne has manufacturing facilities at: Assesse (Belgium); St Ouen l’Aumone and Tossiat (France); Bendorf, Gaggenau and Melle (Germany); Gyor (Hungary); Eindhoven (Netherlands); Kutno (Poland); Barbastro and Oricain (Spain); Esenyurt (Turkey); and Liverpool-Knowsley (United Kingdom). In Latin America, PolyOne has manufacturing facilities at: Itupeva and Novo Hamburgo (Brazil) and at Ramos Arizpe and Toluca (Mexico). In Canada, PolyOne has manufacturing facilities at: Greenville and Orangeville (Ontario) and at Granby and St Remi de Napierville (Quebec). In the US, the company has more than 40 plants in 18 different states, including five in Ohio. Mr Robert Patterson (President & CEO) commented: “India is an attractive region, with strong underlying growth potential, and this investment will deliver exceptional value to our customers.” Original Source: PolyOne Corp, 33587 Walker Road, Avon Lake, OH 44012, USA, website: http://www.polyone.com ( 17 Sep 2014) © PolyOne 2014
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PLANTS Canada: Imerys – talc Imerys has completed the first phase of the expansion project at its talc processing plant at Timmins in upstate Ontario (725 km north of Toronto). The company installed a unit employing proprietary beneficiation technology which enables the production of a minimum 92% GE brightness, lamellar, micronised talc for the first time in North America. This type of talc is said to be the best grade for use as a pigment/filler with polypropylene. Lacking indigenous sources of bright, platy talc ore, North American customers in the polypropylene sector have hitherto relied mainly on imports from China and Pakistan. As a competitive import substitute, Imerys recently launched JetWhite-7C, with 92% GE brightness and an average particle size rating of 7 on the Hegman scale (around 12.5 microns). Original Source: Compounding World, Sep 2014, 10 (Website: http://www.amiplastics.com/mags) © Applied Market Information Ltd 2014
about 200 people when it is fully up and running. It will be capable of producing 70,000 tonnes/y of finished iron oxide pigments. The unit should be ready to commence production in 1Q 2016. Lanxess states that both the 25,000 tonnes/y plant and the 70,000 tonnes/y pigment-finishing unit will “process raw pigments from other Lanxess sites.” In a recent interview, Mr Joerg Hellwig (Head of Lanxess’s Inorganic Pigments business unit) explained that the decision to extend the Ningbo complex was motivated by the currently anticipated 3% per annum growth in global demand for iron oxide pigments. The company has also declared that at the end of 2016 it will shut down its existing 35,000 tonnes/y pigment-finishing unit (with mixing and milling facilities), located in the Shanghai-Taopu district. The Shanghai City Council will then integrate the vacated site into its Putuo Industrial Estate. Original Source: Lanxess AG, Kennedyplatz 1, 50569 Köln, Germany, website: http://www.lanxess.com (11 Sep 2014) © Lanxess 2014. Original Source: Chimie Pharma Hebdo, 15 Sep 2014, (688), (Website: http://www.industrie.com/chimie/) (in French) © ETAI Information 2014
China: Lanxess – iron oxide pigments About 18 months ago, Lanxess AG announced that it would invest €55 M to build a new 25,000 tonnes/y red iron oxide pigments plant at the Ningbo Chemical Industry Park (150 km southeast of Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province). The plant has been designed to employ the latest improved version of the Penniman process, which offers a number of advantages in terms of sustainable development. Construction work is now well underway and the plant is due to come on-stream next year. When it is up and running, it will provide employment for 150 people. The target completion date for this project is March 2015. (See also ‘Focus on Pigments’, Mar 2013, 5). In mid-September 2014, Lanxess declared that it plans to install an iron oxide pigment-finishing unit at the Ningbo site, incorporating pigment blending and milling facilities. The capital cost of this unit is estimated at €5 M, bringing the company’s total investment at Ningbo to €60 M. The new pigment-finishing unit will employ
Germany: Pyrolyx – carbon black from scrap tyres Pyrolyx AG (of Munich) was recently granted US Patent 13/498,032 and Chinese Patent 2009/8016/26128 in respect of its process for the recovery of carbon black from scrap tyres. The company is now completing the engineering process design for its first commercial-scale plant, which should come on-stream at an as yet undisclosed location in Germany. The plant should be ready to commence production next year. No details have been released on the proposed scale of carbon black production. Once the new German plant is up and running, Pyrolyx – together with Zeppelin Systems (of Friedrichshafen) – will begin actively marketing turnkey projects employing the technology on a worldwide basis. According to Pyrolyx, about 3.2 M tonnes of scrap tyres become available each year within the EU. About 50% of them are used as fuel in cement furnaces. Some of the remainder are ground into rubber NOVEMBER 2014
F O C US granules for use in highways construction and flooring materials. But about 130,000 tonnes/y of scrap tyres are dumped at landfill sites. Pyrolyx also states that more than 20 M tonnes/y of crude oil (or the equivalent as natural gas) are required to sustain current global production of carbon black. These facts support the company’s claim that the widespread use of its technology for dealing with scrap tyres would represent a significant environmental improvement. Essentially, the Pyrolyx process involves incinerating scrap tyre granules at 350-700°C in the absence of oxygen. The carbon black product is said to contain minimal traces of polyaromatic hydrocarbons and similar toxic or carcinogenic components. Original Source: European Rubber Journal, 26 Aug 2014, (Website: http://www.european-rubberjournal.com) © Crain Communications Ltd 2014. Original Source: Pyrolyx AG, Nymphenburger Strasse 70, 80335 München, Germany, website: http://www.pyrolyx.com (20 Aug 2014) © Pyrolyx 2014
India: Clariant – pigments & pigment preparations A small ceremony was held at Clariant’s Roha complex on 17 September to mark the completion of a major expansion to the company’s capacity for making a variety of organic pigments and pigment preparations there. Previously, this project had been described as representing a 50% increase in the company’s azo pigments and pigment preparations. Roha (120 km south of Mumbai and 120 km west of Pune) has become one of Clariant’s most important manufacturing complexes in India, at the same time as the company is phasing-out its operations at ThaneKolshet. (See ‘Focus on Pigments’, Jun 2013, 6 & Sep 2013, 6). Clariant spent SFR 2.3 M (equivalent to Rup 200 M) to bring its latest Roha project to fruition. The project was part of a strategic programme that the company has been carrying out in recent years to support customers in emerging markets with high quality products which comply with local and international eco-labelling schemes. Pigments and pigment preparations manufactured at Roha are destined NOVEMBER 2014
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for use in interior and exterior paints, packaging, personal, home and fabric care products, seed coatings, and dispersions for the printing industry. The increased output from Roha will be mainly sold to customers in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Original Source: Clariant International AG, Rothaustrasse 61, 4132 Muttenz 1, Switzerland, website: http://www.clariant.com (17 Sep 2014) © Clariant 2014
India: Gharda Chemicals – TiO2 from bauxite processing wastes More than 75 M tonnes/y of “red mud” are generated worldwide as a waste product (in the form of a sludge containing 50-60% Fe2O3) from the processing of bauxite to alumina. Gharda Chemicals Ltd has developed a process for recovering marketable products from this material, including TiO2 plus elemental iron and aluminium. The process, as described in US Patent 8,540,951 (granted in September 2013), entails significantly lower electricity consumption than conventional alternatives. Gharda Chemicals now plans to build a pilot facility at Lote Parshuram (225 km south of Mumbai) to demonstrate the feasibility of its process. No details have been released as to the scale of the capital cost nor as to the projected output. For the latest financial year, to endMarch 2014, Gharda Chemicals reported total sales revenue at Rup 11.3 bn (equivalent to $184 M), of which exports account for 60%. Pesticides and crop protection chemicals make the largest contribution to total revenues, but the company also has a flourishing organic pigments business. It entered the pigments industry in November 2003, when it began producing carbazole violet (PV-23). The company’s portfolio now includes: pyrrole red (PR-254), quinaphthalone yellow (PY-138), benzimidazolone yellow (PY-151) and indanthrone blue (PB-60). With this background, Gharda Chemicals might be well placed to join the ranks of Indian TiO2 pigment producers. Original Source: Chemical Weekly, 15 Jul 2014, 148,150 (Website: http://www.chemicalweekly.com) © Sevak Publications & Chemical Weekly Database P Ltd 2014. Original Source: Gharda Chemicals, 48 Hill Road, Bandra West, Mumbai 400050, India, website: http://www.gharda.com (4 Jul 2014) © Gharda Chemicals 2014
India: PolyOne – plastic masterbatches & liquid colorants On 17 September 2014, PolyOne (headquartered at Avon Lake, 35 km west of Cleveland, OH) celebrated the official opening of its new manufacturing complex near Pune in Maharashtra province. The complex, located on the Ranjangaon Industrial Estate, about 50 km northeast of Pune city-centre, houses facilities for making speciality solid plastic masterbatches, liquid colorants and additives. Sales offices, a technical service centre and research laboratories are also located on the Ranjangaon site. Key end-use markets for the PolyOne products produced here are: transport, healthcare, wire and cable and packaging. PolyOne is one of the world’s top five suppliers of plastic masterbatches, compounds and colorants. As well as the Ranjangaon complex in India, PolyOne’s other manufacturing facilities in Asia include: Dongguan, ShanghaiPudong, Shenzhen, Suzhou and Tianjin (China); Singapore; and Bangplee Samutprakarn (Thailand). In Europe, PolyOne has manufacturing facilities at: Assesse (Belgium); St Ouen l’Aumone and Tossiat (France); Bendorf, Gaggenau and Melle (Germany); Gyor (Hungary); Eindhoven (Netherlands); Kutno (Poland); Barbastro and Oricain (Spain); Esenyurt (Turkey); and Liverpool-Knowsley (United Kingdom). In Latin America, PolyOne has manufacturing facilities at: Itupeva and Novo Hamburgo (Brazil) and at Ramos Arizpe and Toluca (Mexico). In Canada, PolyOne has manufacturing facilities at: Greenville and Orangeville (Ontario) and at Granby and St Remi de Napierville (Quebec). In the US, the company has more than 40 plants in 18 different states, including five in Ohio. Mr Robert Patterson (President & CEO) commented: “India is an attractive region, with strong underlying growth potential, and this investment will deliver exceptional value to our customers.” Original Source: PolyOne Corp, 33587 Walker Road, Avon Lake, OH 44012, USA, website: http://www.polyone.com ( 17 Sep 2014) © PolyOne 2014
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