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Tosoh signs agreement to sell Chemtura's Emerald Innovation 1000 flame retardants in Japan
strategies
penetration of new end-use segments, including recycled polymers, cosmetics and pharmaceutical specialities. Contact: Imerys SA, Paris, France. Tel: +33 1 4955 6469, Web: www.imerys.com Or contact: Solvay SA, Brussels, Belgium. Tel: +32 2 2642111, Web: www.solvay.com
ICL-IP to close deca production line; unveils flame retardant assessment tool
F
lame retardant producer ICL Industrial Products (ICL-IP) is closing a production line in Israel that produces its FR-1210 (deca) flame retardant product. The ICL business segment has also developed a science-based tool to assess the sustainability profile of flame retardants, which it unveiled at Chinaplas 2015 in May. ICL-IP cites multiple reasons for the closure of the FR-1210 production line. The company has already taken the decision to increase its R&D efforts to develop state-of-the-art alternatives to FR-1210, in line with market movement towards more-sustainable products. In addition, customers are moving to alternative suppliers, the market for FR-1210 is very competitive, with numerous Chinese producers, and the cost of resuming production following a long strike is high, which makes it uneconomical, according to ICL-IP. The producer says it remains committed to the flame retardant business and will work with all of its customers to ensure an orderly transition and phase-out of its FR-1210 activities. In other news, ICL-IP’s recently launched SAFR™ (Systematic Assessment of Flame Retardant) tool ‘expands upon existing hazard-based approaches to incorporate potential exposure into assessment outcomes’, the company says. For use across all flame retardants, the tool utilizes the latest available scientific data to assess each flame retardant product according to its application, with the intention that this will lead to the selection of the most sustainable, effective products appropriate for a given use or application. The product of a rigorous three-year development process, the SAFR assessment tool is now available to be used by all stakeholders who produce or use flame retardants, ICL-IP says. Describing the launch of SAFR as ‘a ground-breaking moment for ICL-IP’, VP of sustainability and advocacy Ilan
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Additives for Polymers
Elkan explains that ICL-IP designed the tool as an important part of its ‘ongoing commitment to innovation and sustainability’. However, for SAFR to ‘truly fulfil its intended use’, it needs to be adopted by all parts of the value chain, where it will enable purchasing decisions to be made based on the sustainable use of a product in a specific application, he notes. According to Elkan, the assessment tool is ‘a step-change’ for the flame retardants industry and marks a new level of transparency. ‘Not only will our direct customers benefit, but those up the user chain will be able to measure not only the hazard but also the exposure of any given flame retardant’, he says. Building on existing, accepted hazard criteria, the SAFR approach assesses the extent to which potential hazards translate into potential risks due to possible exposure to humans and/or to the environment during the service life of the flame retardant. The tool provides one of four possible outcomes for each product assessed: uses that are ‘recommended’, ‘acceptable’, or ‘not recommended’ and ‘unacceptable hazard’. Flame retardants in applications that have a rating of ‘recommended’ through to ‘not recommended’ are all usable; however, users of flame retardants that achieve a ‘not recommended’ rating will be provided with the option of an alternative product with a ‘recommended’ or ‘acceptable’ rating. ICL-IP is in the process of reviewing its own portfolio of flame retardants using SAFR, having already assessed more than 70%, it reports. This process will be repeated periodically, as dictated by the SAFR methodology. Any ICL-IP products that have an ‘unacceptable’ hazard rating – including those that are still in the development phase – will be, and in many cases have already been, phased out in coordination with the value chain, the company reveals. Contact: ICL, Tel Aviv, Israel. Tel: +972 3 684 4400, Web: www.icl-group. com or www.icl-ip.com
Tosoh signs agreement to sell Chemtura’s Emerald Innovation 1000 flame retardants in Japan
C
hemtura Corp has signed a letter of intent (LOI) with Japanese company Tosoh Corp establishing the framework for a long-term relationship for brominated flame retardant products and technologies in Japan. Under the terms of the LOI, Tosoh would have the exclusive
July 2015
financials
right to promote and sell Chemtura’s Emerald Innovation®1000 flame retardant products to Japanese customers. Subject to the satisfaction of each party’s corporate requirements concerning the LOI, Tosoh intends to launch sales later in 2015. Developed and manufactured by Chemtura, Emerald Innovation 1000 flame retardants are polymeric brominated products designed to replace decabromodiphenylether and decabromodiphenylethane in various end-use markets. Initially, Tosoh plans to import the flame retardants for subsequent sale in Japan. However, the agreement also allows for the company to manufacture Emerald Innovation 1000 products under licence for sale to Japanese customers. Tosoh is itself a producer of bromine and bromine-based flame retardants, at its Nanyo complex in Shunan, Yamaguchi Prefecture, and says that it will bring its proprietary production technologies into play to support the quality-conscious domestic market. According to the company, it will also work on new applications for the Emerald Innovation products to further expand sales in Japan. Vimal Sharma, VP and general manager of Chemtura’s Great Lakes Solutions business, and Katsumi Mineshige, associate director and senior general manager of Tosoh, have jointly announced that both companies remain committed to innovate new technologies and to provide world-class products that increase fire safety in the electronics, construction and transportation markets, while minimizing environmental impact. Japan is on the cutting edge of use of these technologies, and so is an ideal region to promote these products, the partners say. Chemtura posted net sales of US$438 million and net earnings from continuing operations on a GAAP basis of $21 million in 1Q 2015, compared with $556 million and $10 million respectively a year earlier. The company’s Industrial Engineered Products segment, which includes the Great Lakes (GLS) business, saw sales decline 26% year on year to $175 million in 1Q 2015, due largely to lower volumes across most GLS products apart from insulation foam flame retardants. However, the segment posted an operating profit of $2 million compared to an operating loss of $4 million in 1Q 2014 as increased selling prices and lower costs offset the effects of the volume declines. Contact: Chemtura Corp, Philadelphia, PA, USA. Tel: +1 203 573 2000, Web: www.chemtura.com Or contact: Tosoh Corp, 3-8-2 Shiba, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-8623, Japan. Tel: +81 3 5427 5118, Web: www.tosoh.com
July 2015
FINANCIALS Songwon Industrial reports encouraging start to 2015
S
outh Korea’s Songwon Industrial Group achieved sales of KRW157 billion (c. E122 million) in the first quarter of 2015, a decline of 3.6% from KRW163 billion for the same period of 2014. However, the group posted a net profit of KRW3.1 billion for the quarter compared to a net loss of KRW4.9 billion a year earlier. An operating loss of KRW1.06 billion in 1Q 2014 was also turned into an operating profit of KRW5.1 billion this year. Songwon reports that it has started 2015 well following a difficult year in 2014, particularly in the first quarter, and despite on-going challenging market conditions. Global currency issues combined with sales price pressure resulting from continuously decreasing raw material costs, customers purchasing with shorter lead times and events such as the West Coast shutdowns in the USA have all contributed to a slight decrease in the group’s consolidated sales. Among Songwon’s additives product lines, sales of its key polymer stabilizer lines dipped by 1% year on year to KRW106 billion, while sales of PVC stabilizers dropped 10.5% and tin intermediates 15.8%. Plasticizer sales showed a modest 1.7% increase to KRW2.0 billion. At the beginning of the year, the drastic weakening of the euro against the Korean won and other relevant currencies resulted in lower sales revenues from Songwon’s European business of KRW37.2 billion, down 8% on 1Q 2014. Its Japanese business was similarly affected, although the Japanese yen stabilized against the won during 1Q 2015. Songwon’s Asian sales, excluding South Korea, were 6.5% lower than in 1Q 2014 at KRW32.1 billion, while in its home market, which accounted for 30.7% of its total revenue, sales fell 5.1% to KRW48.1 billion. In spite of the US shutdowns noted above, sales in the Americas rose 5.9% year on year to KRW32.8 billion in 1Q 2015, while Middle East and Africa sales rose 3.2% to KRW6.05 billion and Australian sales leapt 41.6% to KRW745 million. Songwon reports that its production sites ran steadily without any disruptions during 1Q 2015, which led to a significantly improved gross profit margin of 15.9%, an increase of 3.4 percentage points compared to 12.5% in 1Q 2014, and a 22.8% increase in gross profit to KRW24.97 billion. Falling raw material costs also boosted
Additives for Polymers
9
penetration of new end-use segments, including recycled polymers, cosmetics and pharmaceutical specialities. Contact: Imerys SA, Paris, France. Tel: +33 1 4955 6469, Web: www.imerys.com Or contact: Solvay SA, Brussels, Belgium. Tel: +32 2 2642111, Web: www.solvay.com
ICL-IP to close deca production line; unveils flame retardant assessment tool
F
lame retardant producer ICL Industrial Products (ICL-IP) is closing a production line in Israel that produces its FR-1210 (deca) flame retardant product. The ICL business segment has also developed a science-based tool to assess the sustainability profile of flame retardants, which it unveiled at Chinaplas 2015 in May. ICL-IP cites multiple reasons for the closure of the FR-1210 production line. The company has already taken the decision to increase its R&D efforts to develop state-of-the-art alternatives to FR-1210, in line with market movement towards more-sustainable products. In addition, customers are moving to alternative suppliers, the market for FR-1210 is very competitive, with numerous Chinese producers, and the cost of resuming production following a long strike is high, which makes it uneconomical, according to ICL-IP. The producer says it remains committed to the flame retardant business and will work with all of its customers to ensure an orderly transition and phase-out of its FR-1210 activities. In other news, ICL-IP’s recently launched SAFR™ (Systematic Assessment of Flame Retardant) tool ‘expands upon existing hazard-based approaches to incorporate potential exposure into assessment outcomes’, the company says. For use across all flame retardants, the tool utilizes the latest available scientific data to assess each flame retardant product according to its application, with the intention that this will lead to the selection of the most sustainable, effective products appropriate for a given use or application. The product of a rigorous three-year development process, the SAFR assessment tool is now available to be used by all stakeholders who produce or use flame retardants, ICL-IP says. Describing the launch of SAFR as ‘a ground-breaking moment for ICL-IP’, VP of sustainability and advocacy Ilan
8
Additives for Polymers
Elkan explains that ICL-IP designed the tool as an important part of its ‘ongoing commitment to innovation and sustainability’. However, for SAFR to ‘truly fulfil its intended use’, it needs to be adopted by all parts of the value chain, where it will enable purchasing decisions to be made based on the sustainable use of a product in a specific application, he notes. According to Elkan, the assessment tool is ‘a step-change’ for the flame retardants industry and marks a new level of transparency. ‘Not only will our direct customers benefit, but those up the user chain will be able to measure not only the hazard but also the exposure of any given flame retardant’, he says. Building on existing, accepted hazard criteria, the SAFR approach assesses the extent to which potential hazards translate into potential risks due to possible exposure to humans and/or to the environment during the service life of the flame retardant. The tool provides one of four possible outcomes for each product assessed: uses that are ‘recommended’, ‘acceptable’, or ‘not recommended’ and ‘unacceptable hazard’. Flame retardants in applications that have a rating of ‘recommended’ through to ‘not recommended’ are all usable; however, users of flame retardants that achieve a ‘not recommended’ rating will be provided with the option of an alternative product with a ‘recommended’ or ‘acceptable’ rating. ICL-IP is in the process of reviewing its own portfolio of flame retardants using SAFR, having already assessed more than 70%, it reports. This process will be repeated periodically, as dictated by the SAFR methodology. Any ICL-IP products that have an ‘unacceptable’ hazard rating – including those that are still in the development phase – will be, and in many cases have already been, phased out in coordination with the value chain, the company reveals. Contact: ICL, Tel Aviv, Israel. Tel: +972 3 684 4400, Web: www.icl-group. com or www.icl-ip.com
Tosoh signs agreement to sell Chemtura’s Emerald Innovation 1000 flame retardants in Japan
C
hemtura Corp has signed a letter of intent (LOI) with Japanese company Tosoh Corp establishing the framework for a long-term relationship for brominated flame retardant products and technologies in Japan. Under the terms of the LOI, Tosoh would have the exclusive
July 2015
financials
right to promote and sell Chemtura’s Emerald Innovation®1000 flame retardant products to Japanese customers. Subject to the satisfaction of each party’s corporate requirements concerning the LOI, Tosoh intends to launch sales later in 2015. Developed and manufactured by Chemtura, Emerald Innovation 1000 flame retardants are polymeric brominated products designed to replace decabromodiphenylether and decabromodiphenylethane in various end-use markets. Initially, Tosoh plans to import the flame retardants for subsequent sale in Japan. However, the agreement also allows for the company to manufacture Emerald Innovation 1000 products under licence for sale to Japanese customers. Tosoh is itself a producer of bromine and bromine-based flame retardants, at its Nanyo complex in Shunan, Yamaguchi Prefecture, and says that it will bring its proprietary production technologies into play to support the quality-conscious domestic market. According to the company, it will also work on new applications for the Emerald Innovation products to further expand sales in Japan. Vimal Sharma, VP and general manager of Chemtura’s Great Lakes Solutions business, and Katsumi Mineshige, associate director and senior general manager of Tosoh, have jointly announced that both companies remain committed to innovate new technologies and to provide world-class products that increase fire safety in the electronics, construction and transportation markets, while minimizing environmental impact. Japan is on the cutting edge of use of these technologies, and so is an ideal region to promote these products, the partners say. Chemtura posted net sales of US$438 million and net earnings from continuing operations on a GAAP basis of $21 million in 1Q 2015, compared with $556 million and $10 million respectively a year earlier. The company’s Industrial Engineered Products segment, which includes the Great Lakes (GLS) business, saw sales decline 26% year on year to $175 million in 1Q 2015, due largely to lower volumes across most GLS products apart from insulation foam flame retardants. However, the segment posted an operating profit of $2 million compared to an operating loss of $4 million in 1Q 2014 as increased selling prices and lower costs offset the effects of the volume declines. Contact: Chemtura Corp, Philadelphia, PA, USA. Tel: +1 203 573 2000, Web: www.chemtura.com Or contact: Tosoh Corp, 3-8-2 Shiba, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-8623, Japan. Tel: +81 3 5427 5118, Web: www.tosoh.com
July 2015
FINANCIALS Songwon Industrial reports encouraging start to 2015
S
outh Korea’s Songwon Industrial Group achieved sales of KRW157 billion (c. E122 million) in the first quarter of 2015, a decline of 3.6% from KRW163 billion for the same period of 2014. However, the group posted a net profit of KRW3.1 billion for the quarter compared to a net loss of KRW4.9 billion a year earlier. An operating loss of KRW1.06 billion in 1Q 2014 was also turned into an operating profit of KRW5.1 billion this year. Songwon reports that it has started 2015 well following a difficult year in 2014, particularly in the first quarter, and despite on-going challenging market conditions. Global currency issues combined with sales price pressure resulting from continuously decreasing raw material costs, customers purchasing with shorter lead times and events such as the West Coast shutdowns in the USA have all contributed to a slight decrease in the group’s consolidated sales. Among Songwon’s additives product lines, sales of its key polymer stabilizer lines dipped by 1% year on year to KRW106 billion, while sales of PVC stabilizers dropped 10.5% and tin intermediates 15.8%. Plasticizer sales showed a modest 1.7% increase to KRW2.0 billion. At the beginning of the year, the drastic weakening of the euro against the Korean won and other relevant currencies resulted in lower sales revenues from Songwon’s European business of KRW37.2 billion, down 8% on 1Q 2014. Its Japanese business was similarly affected, although the Japanese yen stabilized against the won during 1Q 2015. Songwon’s Asian sales, excluding South Korea, were 6.5% lower than in 1Q 2014 at KRW32.1 billion, while in its home market, which accounted for 30.7% of its total revenue, sales fell 5.1% to KRW48.1 billion. In spite of the US shutdowns noted above, sales in the Americas rose 5.9% year on year to KRW32.8 billion in 1Q 2015, while Middle East and Africa sales rose 3.2% to KRW6.05 billion and Australian sales leapt 41.6% to KRW745 million. Songwon reports that its production sites ran steadily without any disruptions during 1Q 2015, which led to a significantly improved gross profit margin of 15.9%, an increase of 3.4 percentage points compared to 12.5% in 1Q 2014, and a 22.8% increase in gross profit to KRW24.97 billion. Falling raw material costs also boosted
Additives for Polymers
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