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India
F O C US Hanau-Wolfgang complex, just east of Frankfurt. The company plans to make nanoparticulate zinc oxide in batches of up to 1000 kilos, for applications in optics, electronics, paints and coatings. Performance Chemicals Europe (PCE), Dec 2003, 18 (4), 6
India: Choksi – organic pigments Choksi Pigments claims to be one of the fastest growing producers of organic pigments in India, with an active export marketing team. The company’s current portfolio comprises: 360 tonnes/y of crude copper phthalo blue; 250 tonnes/y of phthalo blue alpha (Pigment Blue 15 and 15:1); 425 tonnes/y of phthalo blue beta (Pigment Blue 15:3); 300 tonnes/y of phthalo green; and 480 tonnes/y of various organic yellows, oranges and reds. Plans are in hand to establish warehousing facilities on both the eastern and western coasts of the US. A project to double Pigment Blue 15:3 capacity to 900 tonnes/y is also underway. Purchase, Nov 2003, 26 (11), 250
India: KMML – TiO2 Thanks to debottlenecking and linebalancing, Kerala Minerals & Metals Ltd (KMML) has raised the capacity of its chloride-route TiO2 pigment plant at Sankaramangalam to 40,000 tonnes/y. The ultimate objective of the current expansion programe is to raise capacity here to 60,000 tonnes/y. The company has long been the only source of domestically produced rutile pigment grades and in recent years it has become a prominent exporter. In the year to end-March 2002, KMML exported only 1751 tonnes of TiO2. In the last fiscal year, its exports increased to 7175 tonnes. For the current fiscal year, to endMarch 2004, the export sales target is 12,000 tonnes. Mr T.J. Rajendran (Managing Director) recently announced the signing of a contract to supply 2500 tonnes to Shanghai Ying International Trading Ltd Co. and this will be a major boost to the company’s sales drive in the Chinese market. Business Line, 18 Nov 2003, 10 (318), 2
JANUARY 2004
O N
PIGMENTS
India: Tata Iron & Steel – TiO2
Russia: Empils – zinc oxide
Tata Iron & Steel Co (Tisco) has appointed a set of preferred contractors in respect of its planned sands-to-TiO2 pigment project. Investment in this project has been assessed at Rup 28 bn altogether. The contractors include: Outokumpu Lurgi, Larsen and Toubro (India) and Pincock, Allen & Holt (US-based consultants). Outokumpu Lurgi will cover the first stage of the project, including: technoeconomic viability, financial analysis, metallurgical test work for mineral separation and ilmenite upgrading facilities; preparation of mining schemes, resource evaluation and geological exploration.
ZOA Empils produced over 14,000 tonnes of zinc oxide in 2003 and it is planning to significantly increase its output as part of the planned modernisation programme. The Moscow Mezhdonarodny Bank is making a Rbl 100 M credit line open to Empils to help finance this programme. As well as being a significant pigments producer, Empils claims to be the country’s largest manufacturer of paints for the private sector and a leading dyes manufacturer. Empils’ paint production exceeded 70,000 tonnes last year, while the company’s dyestuff production accounted for 17% of total Russian output.
Industrial Minerals, Dec 2003, (435), 19
Farbe und Lack, Jan 2004, 110 (1), 12 (in German) & Vestnik khimicheskoi promyshlennosty, Dec 2003, 28 (4), 32 (in Russian)
Japan: Toyo Ink – iron oxides Toyo Ink will spend Yen 500 M to install a new 2000 tonnes/y line at its Fuji iron oxides plant in Shizuoka prefecture. Output will be mainly channelled to manufacturers of magnetic tape for data storage. The new line should be operational in Spring 2004. APCJ, Asia Pacific Coatings Journal, Dec 2003, 16 (6), 10
Netherlands: Tor Minerals – speciality alumina pigment/filler Tor Processing & Trade BV – a subsidiary of Tor Minerals International – recently installed new filtration equipment at its Hattem plant, near Rotterdam. As a result, the company can now operate two independent production lines here, facilitating increased production of both its Boehmite and Aluprem products. Total overall capacity at Hattem is now 10,000 tonnes/y. Boehmite is used mainly in the petroleum industry as a carrier for catalysts. Aluprem is a high-quality speciality alumina pigment/filler, used in cast polymers, bulk moulding compounds and plastic wire and cable applications. Press release from: Tor Minerals International, 722, Burleson Street, Corpus Christi, TX 78402, USA, Tel: +1 512 882, Website: http://www.torminerals.com (20 Nov 2003)
Sweden: Svenska Kaolin – kaolin With prompting from Mr Ulf Kallaker, who has recently become a significant shareholder in Svenska Kaolin, the company has submitted a new application for open-cast mining of a large kaolin deposit at Billinge in southern Sweden. The application notes that the deposit contains at least 22 M tonnes of kaolin and the company intends to produce around 200,000 tonnes/y of kaolin. Svenska Kaolin claims that it has devised new technical solutions which will lessen the environmental impact of mining here. Svenska Kaolin’s original mining application was rejected by the Växjö Environmental Court in 2001 and that Court’s decision was subsequently upheld by the Environmental Appeals Court. Dagens Industri, 27 Nov 2003, 28 (265), 25 (in Swedish)
CORRECTION In ‘Focus on Pigments’, Nov 2003, 2, we reported on the outstanding debt position of Millennium Chemicals (the world’s second largest TiO2 pigment producer), as at the end of September 2003. This should have read: “The company has a total outstanding net debt of $1.2 bn, but most of this debt comes to maturity either in 2006 ($540 M) or in 2008 ($476 M).”
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India: Choksi – organic pigments Choksi Pigments claims to be one of the fastest growing producers of organic pigments in India, with an active export marketing team. The company’s current portfolio comprises: 360 tonnes/y of crude copper phthalo blue; 250 tonnes/y of phthalo blue alpha (Pigment Blue 15 and 15:1); 425 tonnes/y of phthalo blue beta (Pigment Blue 15:3); 300 tonnes/y of phthalo green; and 480 tonnes/y of various organic yellows, oranges and reds. Plans are in hand to establish warehousing facilities on both the eastern and western coasts of the US. A project to double Pigment Blue 15:3 capacity to 900 tonnes/y is also underway. Purchase, Nov 2003, 26 (11), 250
India: KMML – TiO2 Thanks to debottlenecking and linebalancing, Kerala Minerals & Metals Ltd (KMML) has raised the capacity of its chloride-route TiO2 pigment plant at Sankaramangalam to 40,000 tonnes/y. The ultimate objective of the current expansion programe is to raise capacity here to 60,000 tonnes/y. The company has long been the only source of domestically produced rutile pigment grades and in recent years it has become a prominent exporter. In the year to end-March 2002, KMML exported only 1751 tonnes of TiO2. In the last fiscal year, its exports increased to 7175 tonnes. For the current fiscal year, to endMarch 2004, the export sales target is 12,000 tonnes. Mr T.J. Rajendran (Managing Director) recently announced the signing of a contract to supply 2500 tonnes to Shanghai Ying International Trading Ltd Co. and this will be a major boost to the company’s sales drive in the Chinese market. Business Line, 18 Nov 2003, 10 (318), 2
JANUARY 2004
O N
PIGMENTS
India: Tata Iron & Steel – TiO2
Russia: Empils – zinc oxide
Tata Iron & Steel Co (Tisco) has appointed a set of preferred contractors in respect of its planned sands-to-TiO2 pigment project. Investment in this project has been assessed at Rup 28 bn altogether. The contractors include: Outokumpu Lurgi, Larsen and Toubro (India) and Pincock, Allen & Holt (US-based consultants). Outokumpu Lurgi will cover the first stage of the project, including: technoeconomic viability, financial analysis, metallurgical test work for mineral separation and ilmenite upgrading facilities; preparation of mining schemes, resource evaluation and geological exploration.
ZOA Empils produced over 14,000 tonnes of zinc oxide in 2003 and it is planning to significantly increase its output as part of the planned modernisation programme. The Moscow Mezhdonarodny Bank is making a Rbl 100 M credit line open to Empils to help finance this programme. As well as being a significant pigments producer, Empils claims to be the country’s largest manufacturer of paints for the private sector and a leading dyes manufacturer. Empils’ paint production exceeded 70,000 tonnes last year, while the company’s dyestuff production accounted for 17% of total Russian output.
Industrial Minerals, Dec 2003, (435), 19
Farbe und Lack, Jan 2004, 110 (1), 12 (in German) & Vestnik khimicheskoi promyshlennosty, Dec 2003, 28 (4), 32 (in Russian)
Japan: Toyo Ink – iron oxides Toyo Ink will spend Yen 500 M to install a new 2000 tonnes/y line at its Fuji iron oxides plant in Shizuoka prefecture. Output will be mainly channelled to manufacturers of magnetic tape for data storage. The new line should be operational in Spring 2004. APCJ, Asia Pacific Coatings Journal, Dec 2003, 16 (6), 10
Netherlands: Tor Minerals – speciality alumina pigment/filler Tor Processing & Trade BV – a subsidiary of Tor Minerals International – recently installed new filtration equipment at its Hattem plant, near Rotterdam. As a result, the company can now operate two independent production lines here, facilitating increased production of both its Boehmite and Aluprem products. Total overall capacity at Hattem is now 10,000 tonnes/y. Boehmite is used mainly in the petroleum industry as a carrier for catalysts. Aluprem is a high-quality speciality alumina pigment/filler, used in cast polymers, bulk moulding compounds and plastic wire and cable applications. Press release from: Tor Minerals International, 722, Burleson Street, Corpus Christi, TX 78402, USA, Tel: +1 512 882, Website: http://www.torminerals.com (20 Nov 2003)
Sweden: Svenska Kaolin – kaolin With prompting from Mr Ulf Kallaker, who has recently become a significant shareholder in Svenska Kaolin, the company has submitted a new application for open-cast mining of a large kaolin deposit at Billinge in southern Sweden. The application notes that the deposit contains at least 22 M tonnes of kaolin and the company intends to produce around 200,000 tonnes/y of kaolin. Svenska Kaolin claims that it has devised new technical solutions which will lessen the environmental impact of mining here. Svenska Kaolin’s original mining application was rejected by the Växjö Environmental Court in 2001 and that Court’s decision was subsequently upheld by the Environmental Appeals Court. Dagens Industri, 27 Nov 2003, 28 (265), 25 (in Swedish)
CORRECTION In ‘Focus on Pigments’, Nov 2003, 2, we reported on the outstanding debt position of Millennium Chemicals (the world’s second largest TiO2 pigment producer), as at the end of September 2003. This should have read: “The company has a total outstanding net debt of $1.2 bn, but most of this debt comes to maturity either in 2006 ($540 M) or in 2008 ($476 M).”
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