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UK: Omya – GCC
F O C US UK: Omya – GCC Omya has opened a new ground calcium carbonate plant at Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire. The grades produced here are said to be particularly suited to polyvinyl chloride (PVC) compounders because they can be used at higher loadings than most other fillers currently available. Capacity details have not been disclosed.
O N
PIGMENTS
project is budgeted at $25 M. The plant will employ Altair’s novel AHP technology, using locally mined ilmenite. This will be the country’s first TiO2 pigment plant and it will also be the first commercial-scale TiO2 plant using AHP technology. TiO2 Worldwide Update, Jan/Apr 2004, 12 (1/2), 22
COMPANIES
Plastics and Rubber Weekly, 23 Apr 2004, 12
Barloworld acquires ICC US: F & D Plastics – plastics colorants F & D Plastics has stepped up colour concentrates capacity at its Leominster, MA, plant with the installation of a sixth twin-screw extrusion line. The company’s facilities are currently housed at a 27,000 sq ft site at Leominster and 90% of its output is sold to customers in the Northeast and Midwest US, particularly in the cosmetics, housewares and electrical cable and wiring sectors. F & D Plastics is now considering setting up a manufacturing unit in the Southern States. The company currently employs 44 people and increased its sales revenue by 15% to $9 M in 2003. It is aiming to reach the $10 M mark for sales this year. Plastics News, 9 Mar 2004 (Website: http://www.plasticsnews.com)
US: Huber/Omya – GCC J.M.Huber Corp has acquired from Omya a calcium carbonate processing plant, located at Quincy, IL. The plant is believed to have been producing various “industrial grades” of ground calcium carbonate (GCC). Huber intends to transfer production of these GCC grades to its own existing facilities in Illinois and will presumably close the Quincy plant. Rubber and Plastics News, 5 Apr 2004, 33 (18), 19
Vietnam: Lidisaco – TiO2 pigment Mineral Development Co No.6 (aka Lidisaco) has been granted Government approval to go ahead with its plan to build a 10,000 tonnes/y TiO2 pigment plant at an undisclosed location in Vietnam. Investment in the
6
International Chemical Corp (ICC), which claims to be the largest decorative paint colorant manufacturer in South Africa, has been acquired by Barloworld, described as a “global industrial brand management group.” ICC’s business will now be integrated with that of Longridge Colorant (Pty) Ltd. European Paint and Resin News, Mar 2004, 42 (3), 8
Clariant’s gradual rehabilitation to profitability thanks to cost-cutting Despite a downturn in profits in its Pigments & Additives segment, due to the impact of costs associated with plant closures in the UK and Germany, the Clariant group increased its overall operating profit by 62% to SFR 167 M in 1Q 2004, compared against 1Q 2003. Sales revenue increased by 6% to SFR 474 M for Pigments & Additives and by 9% to SFR 286 M for Masterbatches. It looks as though the group’s extensive cost-cutting campaign is beginning to achieve a “gradual rehabilitation.” (See also ‘Focus on Pigments’, May 2004, 5). Neue Zuercher Zeitung, 5 May 2004, 225 (103), 17 (in German)
Great Lakes & OxyChem pool resources in antimony oxide & related activities Great Lakes Chemical Corp (GLCC) and Laurel Industries (part of the OxyChem group, affiliated to Occidental Petroleum) have completed a transaction merging their antimony activities in a 50:50 joint venture, named GLCC Laurel LLC. Manufacturing will be consolidated at the existing GLCC complex at Reynosa in Mexico, while Laurel’s antimony-related plants at LaPorte in
Texas will be closed down by the end of 2004. The joint venture will take on responsibility for making and selling Timonox, TMS, and Trutint antimony oxide pigments and flame retardants; Pyrobloc sodium antimonate and zinc borate synergists; Oncor Smokebloc and Ongard smoke-suppressants; Fireshield and Thermoguard products based on antimony oxide and PetCat catalysts. Press release from: Great Lakes Chemical Corp, PO Box 2200, West Lafayette, IN 47906, USA. Website: http://www.greatlakeschem.com (26 Apr 2004)
Hickson & Welch becomes C6 Solutions after Dunedin takeover Hickson & Welch (of Castleford, Yorkshire) was sold by Arch Chemicals to Dunedin Capital Partners towards the end of last year. (See ‘Focus on Pigments’, Oct 2003, 5). The business has now been renamed C6 Solutions and it intends to focus on speciality chemicals, including optical brighteners and pigment intermediates, as well as on intermediates for use in crop protection, healthcare and nutrition. European Paint and Resin News, Mar 2004, 42 (3), 5
Holliday appoints Pavilion as Middle East sales agent Holliday Dispersions has appointed Pavilion Chemicals to market Holliday’s water-borne and solventborne pigment dispersions in Yemen, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. In due course, the arrangement may be extended to cover other markets in the Middle East region. PPCJ, Polymers, Paint, Colour Journal, Apr 2004, 198 (4472), 13
Lyondell to absorb Millennium Lyondell Chemical will effectively acquire Millennium Chemicals, the world’s second largest TiO2 pigment producer, via a shares-exchange arrangement worth $2.3 bn. The transaction should be finalised by the end of September 2004 and it will create the third-largest US chemical company (after Dow Chemical and DuPont), with pro forma sales revenue in excess of $11 bn and an initial market capitalisation of $4 bn.
JUNE 2004
O N
PIGMENTS
project is budgeted at $25 M. The plant will employ Altair’s novel AHP technology, using locally mined ilmenite. This will be the country’s first TiO2 pigment plant and it will also be the first commercial-scale TiO2 plant using AHP technology. TiO2 Worldwide Update, Jan/Apr 2004, 12 (1/2), 22
COMPANIES
Plastics and Rubber Weekly, 23 Apr 2004, 12
Barloworld acquires ICC US: F & D Plastics – plastics colorants F & D Plastics has stepped up colour concentrates capacity at its Leominster, MA, plant with the installation of a sixth twin-screw extrusion line. The company’s facilities are currently housed at a 27,000 sq ft site at Leominster and 90% of its output is sold to customers in the Northeast and Midwest US, particularly in the cosmetics, housewares and electrical cable and wiring sectors. F & D Plastics is now considering setting up a manufacturing unit in the Southern States. The company currently employs 44 people and increased its sales revenue by 15% to $9 M in 2003. It is aiming to reach the $10 M mark for sales this year. Plastics News, 9 Mar 2004 (Website: http://www.plasticsnews.com)
US: Huber/Omya – GCC J.M.Huber Corp has acquired from Omya a calcium carbonate processing plant, located at Quincy, IL. The plant is believed to have been producing various “industrial grades” of ground calcium carbonate (GCC). Huber intends to transfer production of these GCC grades to its own existing facilities in Illinois and will presumably close the Quincy plant. Rubber and Plastics News, 5 Apr 2004, 33 (18), 19
Vietnam: Lidisaco – TiO2 pigment Mineral Development Co No.6 (aka Lidisaco) has been granted Government approval to go ahead with its plan to build a 10,000 tonnes/y TiO2 pigment plant at an undisclosed location in Vietnam. Investment in the
6
International Chemical Corp (ICC), which claims to be the largest decorative paint colorant manufacturer in South Africa, has been acquired by Barloworld, described as a “global industrial brand management group.” ICC’s business will now be integrated with that of Longridge Colorant (Pty) Ltd. European Paint and Resin News, Mar 2004, 42 (3), 8
Clariant’s gradual rehabilitation to profitability thanks to cost-cutting Despite a downturn in profits in its Pigments & Additives segment, due to the impact of costs associated with plant closures in the UK and Germany, the Clariant group increased its overall operating profit by 62% to SFR 167 M in 1Q 2004, compared against 1Q 2003. Sales revenue increased by 6% to SFR 474 M for Pigments & Additives and by 9% to SFR 286 M for Masterbatches. It looks as though the group’s extensive cost-cutting campaign is beginning to achieve a “gradual rehabilitation.” (See also ‘Focus on Pigments’, May 2004, 5). Neue Zuercher Zeitung, 5 May 2004, 225 (103), 17 (in German)
Great Lakes & OxyChem pool resources in antimony oxide & related activities Great Lakes Chemical Corp (GLCC) and Laurel Industries (part of the OxyChem group, affiliated to Occidental Petroleum) have completed a transaction merging their antimony activities in a 50:50 joint venture, named GLCC Laurel LLC. Manufacturing will be consolidated at the existing GLCC complex at Reynosa in Mexico, while Laurel’s antimony-related plants at LaPorte in
Texas will be closed down by the end of 2004. The joint venture will take on responsibility for making and selling Timonox, TMS, and Trutint antimony oxide pigments and flame retardants; Pyrobloc sodium antimonate and zinc borate synergists; Oncor Smokebloc and Ongard smoke-suppressants; Fireshield and Thermoguard products based on antimony oxide and PetCat catalysts. Press release from: Great Lakes Chemical Corp, PO Box 2200, West Lafayette, IN 47906, USA. Website: http://www.greatlakeschem.com (26 Apr 2004)
Hickson & Welch becomes C6 Solutions after Dunedin takeover Hickson & Welch (of Castleford, Yorkshire) was sold by Arch Chemicals to Dunedin Capital Partners towards the end of last year. (See ‘Focus on Pigments’, Oct 2003, 5). The business has now been renamed C6 Solutions and it intends to focus on speciality chemicals, including optical brighteners and pigment intermediates, as well as on intermediates for use in crop protection, healthcare and nutrition. European Paint and Resin News, Mar 2004, 42 (3), 5
Holliday appoints Pavilion as Middle East sales agent Holliday Dispersions has appointed Pavilion Chemicals to market Holliday’s water-borne and solventborne pigment dispersions in Yemen, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. In due course, the arrangement may be extended to cover other markets in the Middle East region. PPCJ, Polymers, Paint, Colour Journal, Apr 2004, 198 (4472), 13
Lyondell to absorb Millennium Lyondell Chemical will effectively acquire Millennium Chemicals, the world’s second largest TiO2 pigment producer, via a shares-exchange arrangement worth $2.3 bn. The transaction should be finalised by the end of September 2004 and it will create the third-largest US chemical company (after Dow Chemical and DuPont), with pro forma sales revenue in excess of $11 bn and an initial market capitalisation of $4 bn.
JUNE 2004