- Email: [email protected]
Japan: Evonik & Taiyo Nippon Sanso – fumed silica
FOCUS
ON
PIGMENTS
(of the US) has reported a decrease in its kaolin sales to northern Japan as a direct result of the earthquake.
this as one of the most efficient and cost-effective manufacturing technologies for NPCC.”
Original Source: Industrial Minerals, Apr 2011, (523), 8-9 (Website: http://www.mineralnet.co.uk/) © Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC 2011
Press Release from: NanoMaterials Technology Pte Ltd, Singapore, Tel: +65 9384 1818, Website: http://www.nanomt.com (19 May 2011)
Ukraine’s TiO2 output should exceed 150,000 tonnes this year
France, US & China: Rhodia – precipitated silica
Ukrainian TiO2 pigment production increased by 28% from 105,000 tonnes in 2009 to 134,860 tonnes in 2010. The industry is on course to set a new record in 2011, with first-half production at 77,260 tonnes. During the month of June, Krymsky Titan’s output was 8700 tonnes, while Khimprom Sumy produced 3970 tonnes.
Rhodia has two projects underway aimed at raising its global capacity for making highly dispersible silica (HDS) from 333,000 tonnes/y to 365,000 tonnes/y. An expansion at its Chicago Heights, IL plant in the United States is scheduled for completion in 4Q 2011 and an expansion at its Collonges-au-Mont d’Or plant (10 km north of Lyons, France) is scheduled for completion in 1Q 2012. Earlier this year, Rhodia opened a new plant at Qingdao (China), capable of producing 72,000 tonnes/y of HDS. At the Challenge Bibendum event organised by Michelin and held in Berlin (18-22 May 2011), Rhodia highlighted its contribution to the automotive industry’s efforts to improve sustainable mobility, reducing vehicle fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. Rhodia’s HDS, a type of precipitated silica suitable for use in rubber, under the brandname Zeosil. The company began marketing HDS as a substitute for carbon black in the early 1970s. So far, tyre manufacturers have confined their consumption of silica to the tyre tread, where it is claimed to reduce heat build-up and therefore rolling resistance. Rhodia is now promoting the concept of using silica for the bead and sidewall components of the tyre, which would also help to minimise heat build-up. Rhodia also supplies Actalys and Optalys products, which are important ingredients in about one-third of all the vehicle catalytic converters currently in use around the world. Last year Rhodia reported overall sales revenue at €5.23 bn and employed about 14,000 people worldwide. In April 2011, Solvay launched a €3.4 bn bid to acquire the entire business and assets of Rhodia. (See also ‘Focus on Surfactants’, Jun 2011, 1-2).
Original Source: RCCnews, 27 Jul 2011 (Website: http://www.rccnews.ru/eng) © RCCnews.ru 2011
PLANTS Brazil: Lagos Industria Quimica – nanoparticulate PCC Lagos Industria Quimica is one of Brazil’s leading producers of precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC), with a modern fully automated plant at Arcos (Minas Gerais province). The company offers four PCC grades, marketed under the brandname Carbolag, suitable for the food, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, paint, plastics and paper industries. The company now plans to make nanoparticulate grades (NPCC) and has licensed the high-gravity controlled precipitation (HGCP) technology developed by NanoMaterials Technology Pte Ltd (of Singapore). Employing this process, Lagos will establish a new 10,000 tonnes/y NPCC plant at its Arcos site, which should be ready for operation next year. Mr Charles Sher (Chairman of NanoMaterials Technology) said: “Today’s announcement is an important milestone in deploying the HGCP Technology in one of the fastest growing and most important markets of the world, in view of the coming FIFA World Cup 2014 and Summer Olympics 2016. We are glad to be working with our technology partner, Prof Chen Jianfeng and his team from the Beijing University of Chemical Technology, who pioneered
4
Press Release from: Rhodia, 110 Esplanade Charles de Gaulle, La Défense 4, 92931 Paris La Défense, France. Tel: +33 1 5356 6464, Website: http://www.rhodia.com (19 May 2011)
Germany: ISL Chemie – pigment preparations for paints ISL Chemie GmbH & Co KG currently produces up to 4200 tonnes/y of pigment preparations for the paint and plastic sectors at its plant in Kürten (25 km east of Leverkusen). The company reported sales revenue at €26.3 M for 2010. It has 120 employees. ISL is part of the Berlac group (headquartered at Sissach, Switzerland). Other members of the group include Basler Lacke (of Switzerland), Bomix and Derem (of Germany), Bomex (of China) and KemDesign (of Mexico). ISL is planning to expand its facilities at Kürten over the next four years, so as to treble its production of pigment preparations for the paint sector. Original Source: Farbe und Lack, Jun 2011, 117 (6), 12 (Website: http://www.farbeundlack.de/) (in German) © Vincentz Network 2011
Indonesia: Antam & Showa Denko – alumina trihydrate Construction work has begun on a new chemical-grade alumina plant at Tayan in the Sanggau Regency region of West Kalimantan. Project investment is budgeted at $450 M. The plant will be owned and operated as a joint venture, namely PT Indonesia Chemical Alumina, in which Antam (of Jakarta) has an 80% stake, while Showa Denko (of Japan) has a 20% stake. It is expected to come onstream in January 2014. The capacity of the plant is reported as 300,000 tonnes/y of chemical-grade alumina and this figure includes unidentified volumes of alumina trihydrate, aluminium derivatives for water treatment and alumina-based products for refractories, abrasives, building materials, packaging and glass manufacture. Press Release from: PT Antam (Persero) Tbk, Gedung Aneka Tambang, Jl Letjen TB Simatupang 1, Lingkar Selatan, Tanjung Barat, Jakarta 12530, Indonesia. Tel: +62 21 789 1234. Website: http://www.antam.com (11 Apr 2011)
Japan: Evonik & Taiyo Nippon Sanso – fumed silica At the beginning of June 2011, a new plant for making fumed silica started-up at Yokkaichi (about 400 km south of Tokyo). The plant (of unidentified capacity) is owned and operated as a
SEPTEMBER 2011
FOCUS joint venture between Evonik Industries (of Germany) and Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corp (of Japan). It employs Evonik’s long-established Aerosil process, as used at Rheinfelden (Germany), entailing the flame pyrolysis of silicon tetrachloride. Here, the silicon tetrachloride is generated as a byproduct of the two-step process for making monosilane from powdered silicon and hydrochloric acid. Integrated with the fumed silica plant is a new plant for making monosilane, which started-up at the same time. The entire Yokkaichi project cost €150 M. Monosilane is used in the production of thin film solar cells, flatscreen displays and semiconductors for the electronics industry. Taiyo Nippon Sanso is one of the leading global distributors of industrial and special gases, including silanes, and has supplied key customers in the Asian electronics industry for many years. Evonik is one of the world’s largest suppliers of chlorosilanes and monosilanes, as well as being a major global supplier of fumed silica. The fumed silica output from Yokkaichi will be mainly marketed to customers in the plastics, paint and colorants industries. Press Release from: Evonik Industries AG, Rellinghauser Strasse 1-11 45128, Essen, Germany. Website: http://www.evonik.com (3 Jun 2011)
Japan: Hexa – plastic colorants Hexa Chemical (headquartered in Osaka) completed its purchase of an 81.5% stake in DIC Colorants on 27 May 2011. Hexa intends to buy-up the remaining 18.5% of the equity by 2014. With the purchase, Hexa Chemicals acquired control of the plastic colorants and compounds facility at Kawagoe (Saitama prefecture) and it now intends to relocate its own plastic colorants and compounds production from Tokyo to the Kawagoe site. Original Source: Japan Chemical Web, 5 Jul 2011 (Website: http://www.japanchemicalweb.jp) © The Chemical Daily Co Ltd 2011
Japan: Nippon Kasei & Mitsubishi Chemical – carbon black Nippon Kasei Chemical has announced the permanent closure of its 30,000 tonnes/y carbon black plant at Onahama (10 km south of Iwaki in
SEPTEMBER 2011
ON
PIGMENTS
Fukushima prefecture). The plant was severely damaged as a result of the earthquake and tsunami on 11 March. Nevertheless, Nippon Kasei has made strenuous efforts to repair and reactivate most of its other plants at Onahama. For example, the production of a sealant additive used in the manufacture of solar cells was resumed within less than six weeks of the disaster. Nippon Kasei accounts for about 90% of the world’s production of this particular additive. Nippon Kasei is part of the Mitsubishi group, being owned 52.75% by Mitsubishi Chemical and 12.13% by Mitsubishi Corp. Customers for Nippon Kasei’s carbon black will continue to be catered for by shipments from Mitsubishi Chemical’s two other plants, at Kitakyushu and Yokkaichi. Original Source: Japan Chemical Web, 17 Jun 2011, (Website: http://www.japanchemicalweb.jp) © The Chemical Daily Co Ltd 2011
Japan: Nippon Kayaku – inkjet colorants Nippon Kayaku recently opened a new plant for producing inkjet colorants at its Fukuyama complex (Hiroshima prefecture) in western Japan. This will treble the company’s capacity for inkjet colorants, but no absolute figures (in terms of tonnes/y) have been disclosed. The inkjet colorants business is handled by Nippon Kayaku’s Functional Chemicals division, which also produces: sealants and polarising films for liquid crystal display (LCD) panels, UV-curable resins for photo discs, photoresists for semiconductors, catalysts for use in acrylic and methacrylic acid manufacture and epoxy resins, as well as colorants for textiles, paper and plastics. Original Source: Japan Chemical Web, 7 Jun 2011, (Website: http://www.japanchemicalweb.jp) © The Chemical Daily Co Ltd 2011
UK: Colourhouse Masterbatch – plastics masterbatch Colourhouse Masterbatch Ltd was founded by a group of ex-employees of a company that closed its own Wigan masterbatch plant in 2010. The new company’s plant came onstream in March 2011, located on the Swan Lane Business Park. Initially, it is targeting customers in Northwest
England, offering colour masterbatches using various highspecification carrier systems, including acetal, acrylic, nylon, polycarbonate and polyethylene terephthalate (PET), as well as all the commodity polymers. Original Source: Plastics and Rubber Weekly, 22 Jul 2011, 9 (Website: http://www.prw.com/) © Crain Communications Inc 2011
UK & US: Americhem – masterbatch Americhem has revealed that the investment in its new 11,300 tonnes/y masterbatch plant being built at Liberty, NC (170 km northeast of Charlotte) will be nearly $23 M. The plant should be ready to begin production by the end of 2011. Meanwhile, Americhem has installed a 2000 tonne/y production line to make customized colour and additive masterbatches for synthetic turf at its Manchester complex in Northwest England. A similar pilotscale line is being installed at the company’s Dalton, GA complex and this should be ready for operation by the end of 2011. Original Source: Plastics News, 13 Jun 2011 & 26 Jul 2011, (Website: http://www.plasticsnews.com) © Crain Communications Inc 2011
US: Emerald Hilton Davis – lake colorants dyes & dispersions Emerald Hilton Davis has significantly expanded the capacity of its Cincinnati, OH plant for making lake colorants, dyes and pigment dispersions. Hilton Davis has a longestablished reputation as a supplier of lake colorants for the food and pharmaceutical industry and the Cincinnati site has been manufacturing colorants since the 1920s. Ms Jenny Smith (Business Manager) commented: “Lakes are a water-insoluble form of dye used to provide vibrant, high strength colour in food applications. They provide colour in applications such as bakery and confections, as they are soluble in oil and butter, and thus prevent undesirable colour-bleed.” Emerald Performance Materials, the parent group, was created in May 2006 as an affiliate of Sun Capital Partners. Prior to that, the business was owned by Lubrizol and before that it was the Food Ingredients &
5
ON
PIGMENTS
(of the US) has reported a decrease in its kaolin sales to northern Japan as a direct result of the earthquake.
this as one of the most efficient and cost-effective manufacturing technologies for NPCC.”
Original Source: Industrial Minerals, Apr 2011, (523), 8-9 (Website: http://www.mineralnet.co.uk/) © Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC 2011
Press Release from: NanoMaterials Technology Pte Ltd, Singapore, Tel: +65 9384 1818, Website: http://www.nanomt.com (19 May 2011)
Ukraine’s TiO2 output should exceed 150,000 tonnes this year
France, US & China: Rhodia – precipitated silica
Ukrainian TiO2 pigment production increased by 28% from 105,000 tonnes in 2009 to 134,860 tonnes in 2010. The industry is on course to set a new record in 2011, with first-half production at 77,260 tonnes. During the month of June, Krymsky Titan’s output was 8700 tonnes, while Khimprom Sumy produced 3970 tonnes.
Rhodia has two projects underway aimed at raising its global capacity for making highly dispersible silica (HDS) from 333,000 tonnes/y to 365,000 tonnes/y. An expansion at its Chicago Heights, IL plant in the United States is scheduled for completion in 4Q 2011 and an expansion at its Collonges-au-Mont d’Or plant (10 km north of Lyons, France) is scheduled for completion in 1Q 2012. Earlier this year, Rhodia opened a new plant at Qingdao (China), capable of producing 72,000 tonnes/y of HDS. At the Challenge Bibendum event organised by Michelin and held in Berlin (18-22 May 2011), Rhodia highlighted its contribution to the automotive industry’s efforts to improve sustainable mobility, reducing vehicle fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. Rhodia’s HDS, a type of precipitated silica suitable for use in rubber, under the brandname Zeosil. The company began marketing HDS as a substitute for carbon black in the early 1970s. So far, tyre manufacturers have confined their consumption of silica to the tyre tread, where it is claimed to reduce heat build-up and therefore rolling resistance. Rhodia is now promoting the concept of using silica for the bead and sidewall components of the tyre, which would also help to minimise heat build-up. Rhodia also supplies Actalys and Optalys products, which are important ingredients in about one-third of all the vehicle catalytic converters currently in use around the world. Last year Rhodia reported overall sales revenue at €5.23 bn and employed about 14,000 people worldwide. In April 2011, Solvay launched a €3.4 bn bid to acquire the entire business and assets of Rhodia. (See also ‘Focus on Surfactants’, Jun 2011, 1-2).
Original Source: RCCnews, 27 Jul 2011 (Website: http://www.rccnews.ru/eng) © RCCnews.ru 2011
PLANTS Brazil: Lagos Industria Quimica – nanoparticulate PCC Lagos Industria Quimica is one of Brazil’s leading producers of precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC), with a modern fully automated plant at Arcos (Minas Gerais province). The company offers four PCC grades, marketed under the brandname Carbolag, suitable for the food, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, paint, plastics and paper industries. The company now plans to make nanoparticulate grades (NPCC) and has licensed the high-gravity controlled precipitation (HGCP) technology developed by NanoMaterials Technology Pte Ltd (of Singapore). Employing this process, Lagos will establish a new 10,000 tonnes/y NPCC plant at its Arcos site, which should be ready for operation next year. Mr Charles Sher (Chairman of NanoMaterials Technology) said: “Today’s announcement is an important milestone in deploying the HGCP Technology in one of the fastest growing and most important markets of the world, in view of the coming FIFA World Cup 2014 and Summer Olympics 2016. We are glad to be working with our technology partner, Prof Chen Jianfeng and his team from the Beijing University of Chemical Technology, who pioneered
4
Press Release from: Rhodia, 110 Esplanade Charles de Gaulle, La Défense 4, 92931 Paris La Défense, France. Tel: +33 1 5356 6464, Website: http://www.rhodia.com (19 May 2011)
Germany: ISL Chemie – pigment preparations for paints ISL Chemie GmbH & Co KG currently produces up to 4200 tonnes/y of pigment preparations for the paint and plastic sectors at its plant in Kürten (25 km east of Leverkusen). The company reported sales revenue at €26.3 M for 2010. It has 120 employees. ISL is part of the Berlac group (headquartered at Sissach, Switzerland). Other members of the group include Basler Lacke (of Switzerland), Bomix and Derem (of Germany), Bomex (of China) and KemDesign (of Mexico). ISL is planning to expand its facilities at Kürten over the next four years, so as to treble its production of pigment preparations for the paint sector. Original Source: Farbe und Lack, Jun 2011, 117 (6), 12 (Website: http://www.farbeundlack.de/) (in German) © Vincentz Network 2011
Indonesia: Antam & Showa Denko – alumina trihydrate Construction work has begun on a new chemical-grade alumina plant at Tayan in the Sanggau Regency region of West Kalimantan. Project investment is budgeted at $450 M. The plant will be owned and operated as a joint venture, namely PT Indonesia Chemical Alumina, in which Antam (of Jakarta) has an 80% stake, while Showa Denko (of Japan) has a 20% stake. It is expected to come onstream in January 2014. The capacity of the plant is reported as 300,000 tonnes/y of chemical-grade alumina and this figure includes unidentified volumes of alumina trihydrate, aluminium derivatives for water treatment and alumina-based products for refractories, abrasives, building materials, packaging and glass manufacture. Press Release from: PT Antam (Persero) Tbk, Gedung Aneka Tambang, Jl Letjen TB Simatupang 1, Lingkar Selatan, Tanjung Barat, Jakarta 12530, Indonesia. Tel: +62 21 789 1234. Website: http://www.antam.com (11 Apr 2011)
Japan: Evonik & Taiyo Nippon Sanso – fumed silica At the beginning of June 2011, a new plant for making fumed silica started-up at Yokkaichi (about 400 km south of Tokyo). The plant (of unidentified capacity) is owned and operated as a
SEPTEMBER 2011
FOCUS joint venture between Evonik Industries (of Germany) and Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corp (of Japan). It employs Evonik’s long-established Aerosil process, as used at Rheinfelden (Germany), entailing the flame pyrolysis of silicon tetrachloride. Here, the silicon tetrachloride is generated as a byproduct of the two-step process for making monosilane from powdered silicon and hydrochloric acid. Integrated with the fumed silica plant is a new plant for making monosilane, which started-up at the same time. The entire Yokkaichi project cost €150 M. Monosilane is used in the production of thin film solar cells, flatscreen displays and semiconductors for the electronics industry. Taiyo Nippon Sanso is one of the leading global distributors of industrial and special gases, including silanes, and has supplied key customers in the Asian electronics industry for many years. Evonik is one of the world’s largest suppliers of chlorosilanes and monosilanes, as well as being a major global supplier of fumed silica. The fumed silica output from Yokkaichi will be mainly marketed to customers in the plastics, paint and colorants industries. Press Release from: Evonik Industries AG, Rellinghauser Strasse 1-11 45128, Essen, Germany. Website: http://www.evonik.com (3 Jun 2011)
Japan: Hexa – plastic colorants Hexa Chemical (headquartered in Osaka) completed its purchase of an 81.5% stake in DIC Colorants on 27 May 2011. Hexa intends to buy-up the remaining 18.5% of the equity by 2014. With the purchase, Hexa Chemicals acquired control of the plastic colorants and compounds facility at Kawagoe (Saitama prefecture) and it now intends to relocate its own plastic colorants and compounds production from Tokyo to the Kawagoe site. Original Source: Japan Chemical Web, 5 Jul 2011 (Website: http://www.japanchemicalweb.jp) © The Chemical Daily Co Ltd 2011
Japan: Nippon Kasei & Mitsubishi Chemical – carbon black Nippon Kasei Chemical has announced the permanent closure of its 30,000 tonnes/y carbon black plant at Onahama (10 km south of Iwaki in
SEPTEMBER 2011
ON
PIGMENTS
Fukushima prefecture). The plant was severely damaged as a result of the earthquake and tsunami on 11 March. Nevertheless, Nippon Kasei has made strenuous efforts to repair and reactivate most of its other plants at Onahama. For example, the production of a sealant additive used in the manufacture of solar cells was resumed within less than six weeks of the disaster. Nippon Kasei accounts for about 90% of the world’s production of this particular additive. Nippon Kasei is part of the Mitsubishi group, being owned 52.75% by Mitsubishi Chemical and 12.13% by Mitsubishi Corp. Customers for Nippon Kasei’s carbon black will continue to be catered for by shipments from Mitsubishi Chemical’s two other plants, at Kitakyushu and Yokkaichi. Original Source: Japan Chemical Web, 17 Jun 2011, (Website: http://www.japanchemicalweb.jp) © The Chemical Daily Co Ltd 2011
Japan: Nippon Kayaku – inkjet colorants Nippon Kayaku recently opened a new plant for producing inkjet colorants at its Fukuyama complex (Hiroshima prefecture) in western Japan. This will treble the company’s capacity for inkjet colorants, but no absolute figures (in terms of tonnes/y) have been disclosed. The inkjet colorants business is handled by Nippon Kayaku’s Functional Chemicals division, which also produces: sealants and polarising films for liquid crystal display (LCD) panels, UV-curable resins for photo discs, photoresists for semiconductors, catalysts for use in acrylic and methacrylic acid manufacture and epoxy resins, as well as colorants for textiles, paper and plastics. Original Source: Japan Chemical Web, 7 Jun 2011, (Website: http://www.japanchemicalweb.jp) © The Chemical Daily Co Ltd 2011
UK: Colourhouse Masterbatch – plastics masterbatch Colourhouse Masterbatch Ltd was founded by a group of ex-employees of a company that closed its own Wigan masterbatch plant in 2010. The new company’s plant came onstream in March 2011, located on the Swan Lane Business Park. Initially, it is targeting customers in Northwest
England, offering colour masterbatches using various highspecification carrier systems, including acetal, acrylic, nylon, polycarbonate and polyethylene terephthalate (PET), as well as all the commodity polymers. Original Source: Plastics and Rubber Weekly, 22 Jul 2011, 9 (Website: http://www.prw.com/) © Crain Communications Inc 2011
UK & US: Americhem – masterbatch Americhem has revealed that the investment in its new 11,300 tonnes/y masterbatch plant being built at Liberty, NC (170 km northeast of Charlotte) will be nearly $23 M. The plant should be ready to begin production by the end of 2011. Meanwhile, Americhem has installed a 2000 tonne/y production line to make customized colour and additive masterbatches for synthetic turf at its Manchester complex in Northwest England. A similar pilotscale line is being installed at the company’s Dalton, GA complex and this should be ready for operation by the end of 2011. Original Source: Plastics News, 13 Jun 2011 & 26 Jul 2011, (Website: http://www.plasticsnews.com) © Crain Communications Inc 2011
US: Emerald Hilton Davis – lake colorants dyes & dispersions Emerald Hilton Davis has significantly expanded the capacity of its Cincinnati, OH plant for making lake colorants, dyes and pigment dispersions. Hilton Davis has a longestablished reputation as a supplier of lake colorants for the food and pharmaceutical industry and the Cincinnati site has been manufacturing colorants since the 1920s. Ms Jenny Smith (Business Manager) commented: “Lakes are a water-insoluble form of dye used to provide vibrant, high strength colour in food applications. They provide colour in applications such as bakery and confections, as they are soluble in oil and butter, and thus prevent undesirable colour-bleed.” Emerald Performance Materials, the parent group, was created in May 2006 as an affiliate of Sun Capital Partners. Prior to that, the business was owned by Lubrizol and before that it was the Food Ingredients &
5