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UK: Cristal – TiO2
FOCUS ilmenite smelting facility in South Africa. Mintek holds patents on DCdirect arc ilmenite smelting technology, which has been successfully employed for more than 10 years at Exxaro’s ilmenite smelters at Saldanha Bay and Empangeni in South Africa. Original Source: Industrial Minerals, Oct 2011, (529), 24 (Website: http://www.mineralnet.co.uk/) © Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC 2011
Saudi Arabia: PolyOne & Juffali – plastics masterbatch PolyOne (of Avon Lake, OH) and the Juffali group (of Jeddah) have established a 51:49 joint venture that will build and operate a plastic colour concentrates plant in Jeddah. The plant will cost $14 M to build and it should be on-stream towards the end of 2012. For EA Juffali & Brothers Co Ltd, the venture will represent its first involvement in the plastic colorants sector. Juffali’s motto is “Progress through diversity” and since its creation in 1948 the group has moved into a variety of different industries, including vehicle manufacturing, information technology and refrigeration, as well as chemicals. It has operating joint ventures with a number of foreign partners, including: IBM, Siemens, Ericsson, MercedesBenz, Michelin, Massey-Ferguson, Electrolux, Kelvinator, Carrier, Dow, DuPont and Butler. Original Source: Plastics News, 18 Oct 2011 (Website: http://plasticsnews.com/) © Crain Communications Inc 2011
UK: Cristal – TiO 2 The 150,000 tonnes/y chloride-route TiO2 pigment plant on Laporte Road at Stallingborough (near the Immingham docks area) has been shut down, pending the completion of repairs to rectify a leakage of titanium tetrachloride. Millennium Inorganic Chemicals (a subsidiary of the Cristal Global group) was issued with a prohibition notice by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE), following a sudden discharge of titanium tetrachloride fumes from the site on 2 November. Outside workers at the nearby ConocoPhillips refinery were ordered to seek refuge indoors and the local fire brigade was alerted, but
DECEMBER 2011
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did not go on to the TiO2 plant site in the end. There were no reports of personal injuries. The plant cannot reopen until the HSE completes its investigation and gives the necessary clearance. Meanwhile, the company has appealed against the issuance of the prohibition notice. More than two weeks after the incident, a spokesperson said: “There will be no effect on either our full-time employees or our contractors. Although production is shut down, there is still work to be done around the plant while it is idle.” The outage is expected to last for 4-6 weeks, implying a loss of TiO2 output of around 15,000 tonnes. The Stallingborough plant was closed for seven weeks last year, following an explosive discharge of titanium tetrachloride on 5 March 2010, as a result of which one worker died of his injuries. (See also ‘Focus on Pigments’, Jun 2010, 6). Earlier this year, on 7 March 2011, the HSE issued the company with three “notices to improve” (Nos 303140814, -831 and -833) relating to emergency safety procedures. Millennium had complied with the requirements of these notices within the statutory three months. Original Source: TiO2 Worldwide Update, Dec 2011, (19), 5 (Website: http://www.artikol.com) © Artikol 2011
US: Cabot – pigment dispersions for inkjet printers Cabot has embarked on a $10 M programme to double capacity at Haverhill, MA for making Cab-O-Jet colour pigment dispersions and polymer products. The programme should be completed by the end of next year and it is aimed at strengthening Cabot’s leadership position in aqueous pigment dispersions, which are used to provide the black, cyan, yellow and magenta colours in many of today’s inkjet printers. Over the past few years inkjet printers have started to penetrate the office market, competing against laser printers by providing full colour printing at low cost and lower energy usage. In addition, the widespread adoption of eReaders and the resulting lower demand for traditional books has led publishing houses to find alternatives to large print runs,
such as “print on demand.” Similarly, transactional printing (for bank statements and bills) is using more colour. Digital printing technology, such as inkjet, satisfies this growing need for shorter print runs and “personalisation” that was either costprohibitive or not feasible with traditional analogue printing. The Cab-O-Jet product line is manufactured using a proprietary stabilisation technique and surface treatment that delivers superior print performance, durability and flexibility for the inkjet ink developer. The launch of the Cab-O-Jet 400 series of inkjet colorants in 2007 marked the debut of Cabot’s patented calciumbinding technology, which deliver sharper, brighter prints on standard papers at high speed. Cabot began the commercial-scale production of black pigment dispersions in 1998 and diversified into colour pigment dispersions two years later. Its Haverhill plant opened in 2001 and currently employs about 80 people. As a result of the expansion, a further 15 jobs will be created. Press Release from: Cabot Corp, Boston, MA 02210, USA, website: http://www.cabot-corp.com (1 Aug 2011)
US: Chroma – plastics compounds During October 2011, Chroma Corp will install six new extrusion lines for small-lot plastic compounds (up to 1000 lb maximum) at its McHenry, IL plastic compounds and colorants facility. The company also recently doubled its laboratory space for colour innovation and development. As a result of these two new developments, Chroma will recruit another 13 staff before the end of this year. Chroma is a privately owned company, which established the International Colour Alliance, together with Lifocolor (of Germany) and Cromex (of Brazil), to enhance collaboration on plastics colorants manufacturing and best practice. The Alliance has subsequently expanded to include Panacea Polymers (of South Africa), IWP (of Indonesia), Ngai Hing Hong (of China) and World Pigments (of Thailand). Original Source: Plastics News, 22 Aug 2011, (Website: http://www.plasticsnews.com) © Crain Communications Inc 2011
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Saudi Arabia: PolyOne & Juffali – plastics masterbatch PolyOne (of Avon Lake, OH) and the Juffali group (of Jeddah) have established a 51:49 joint venture that will build and operate a plastic colour concentrates plant in Jeddah. The plant will cost $14 M to build and it should be on-stream towards the end of 2012. For EA Juffali & Brothers Co Ltd, the venture will represent its first involvement in the plastic colorants sector. Juffali’s motto is “Progress through diversity” and since its creation in 1948 the group has moved into a variety of different industries, including vehicle manufacturing, information technology and refrigeration, as well as chemicals. It has operating joint ventures with a number of foreign partners, including: IBM, Siemens, Ericsson, MercedesBenz, Michelin, Massey-Ferguson, Electrolux, Kelvinator, Carrier, Dow, DuPont and Butler. Original Source: Plastics News, 18 Oct 2011 (Website: http://plasticsnews.com/) © Crain Communications Inc 2011
UK: Cristal – TiO 2 The 150,000 tonnes/y chloride-route TiO2 pigment plant on Laporte Road at Stallingborough (near the Immingham docks area) has been shut down, pending the completion of repairs to rectify a leakage of titanium tetrachloride. Millennium Inorganic Chemicals (a subsidiary of the Cristal Global group) was issued with a prohibition notice by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE), following a sudden discharge of titanium tetrachloride fumes from the site on 2 November. Outside workers at the nearby ConocoPhillips refinery were ordered to seek refuge indoors and the local fire brigade was alerted, but
DECEMBER 2011
ON
PIGMENTS
did not go on to the TiO2 plant site in the end. There were no reports of personal injuries. The plant cannot reopen until the HSE completes its investigation and gives the necessary clearance. Meanwhile, the company has appealed against the issuance of the prohibition notice. More than two weeks after the incident, a spokesperson said: “There will be no effect on either our full-time employees or our contractors. Although production is shut down, there is still work to be done around the plant while it is idle.” The outage is expected to last for 4-6 weeks, implying a loss of TiO2 output of around 15,000 tonnes. The Stallingborough plant was closed for seven weeks last year, following an explosive discharge of titanium tetrachloride on 5 March 2010, as a result of which one worker died of his injuries. (See also ‘Focus on Pigments’, Jun 2010, 6). Earlier this year, on 7 March 2011, the HSE issued the company with three “notices to improve” (Nos 303140814, -831 and -833) relating to emergency safety procedures. Millennium had complied with the requirements of these notices within the statutory three months. Original Source: TiO2 Worldwide Update, Dec 2011, (19), 5 (Website: http://www.artikol.com) © Artikol 2011
US: Cabot – pigment dispersions for inkjet printers Cabot has embarked on a $10 M programme to double capacity at Haverhill, MA for making Cab-O-Jet colour pigment dispersions and polymer products. The programme should be completed by the end of next year and it is aimed at strengthening Cabot’s leadership position in aqueous pigment dispersions, which are used to provide the black, cyan, yellow and magenta colours in many of today’s inkjet printers. Over the past few years inkjet printers have started to penetrate the office market, competing against laser printers by providing full colour printing at low cost and lower energy usage. In addition, the widespread adoption of eReaders and the resulting lower demand for traditional books has led publishing houses to find alternatives to large print runs,
such as “print on demand.” Similarly, transactional printing (for bank statements and bills) is using more colour. Digital printing technology, such as inkjet, satisfies this growing need for shorter print runs and “personalisation” that was either costprohibitive or not feasible with traditional analogue printing. The Cab-O-Jet product line is manufactured using a proprietary stabilisation technique and surface treatment that delivers superior print performance, durability and flexibility for the inkjet ink developer. The launch of the Cab-O-Jet 400 series of inkjet colorants in 2007 marked the debut of Cabot’s patented calciumbinding technology, which deliver sharper, brighter prints on standard papers at high speed. Cabot began the commercial-scale production of black pigment dispersions in 1998 and diversified into colour pigment dispersions two years later. Its Haverhill plant opened in 2001 and currently employs about 80 people. As a result of the expansion, a further 15 jobs will be created. Press Release from: Cabot Corp, Boston, MA 02210, USA, website: http://www.cabot-corp.com (1 Aug 2011)
US: Chroma – plastics compounds During October 2011, Chroma Corp will install six new extrusion lines for small-lot plastic compounds (up to 1000 lb maximum) at its McHenry, IL plastic compounds and colorants facility. The company also recently doubled its laboratory space for colour innovation and development. As a result of these two new developments, Chroma will recruit another 13 staff before the end of this year. Chroma is a privately owned company, which established the International Colour Alliance, together with Lifocolor (of Germany) and Cromex (of Brazil), to enhance collaboration on plastics colorants manufacturing and best practice. The Alliance has subsequently expanded to include Panacea Polymers (of South Africa), IWP (of Indonesia), Ngai Hing Hong (of China) and World Pigments (of Thailand). Original Source: Plastics News, 22 Aug 2011, (Website: http://www.plasticsnews.com) © Crain Communications Inc 2011
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