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United Kingdom, Germany & India: Yule Catto – hair colorants
FOCUS initial production will be of the order of 750,000 tonnes/y of ilmenite plus 25,000 tonnes/y of zircon. The ilmenite will be shipped to the Rio Tinto smelter at Sorel in Quebec, which is to be upgraded. The company has committed to spending $585 M on establishing the mining operation and $190 M on upgrading and expanding facilities at the Sorel site. Storage and handling facilities at Sorel will be expanded, as well as associated ancillary services. Moreover, the ilmenite smelter will be modified to cater for the production of a new type of titania slag, containing 91% TiO2. Traditionally, the Sorel smelter has used exclusively rock ilmenite from upstate Quebec as its feedstock, generating a slag containing 80% TiO2. The Government of Madagascar has agreed to contribute $35 M to the establishment of port facilities at Fort Dauphin, as part of its Growth Poles Project funded by the World Bank. The Government will also hold a 20% shareholding in QIT Madagascar Minerals (QMM), the mine and port operating company. At the end of the life of the mine, the port facilities will automatically become the responsibility and under the control of the Government of Madagascar. Construction work on the project should commence within the next few months, with production start-up expected in early 2009. Press Release from: Rio Tinto Plc, 6, St James Square, London, SW1Y 4LD, UK, tel: +44 020 7930 2399, Website: http://www.riotinto.com (3 Aug 2005)
Russia: Empils – zinc oxide Empils, one of the top ten paint and pigments companies in Russia, is streamlining its activities to concentrate on zinc oxide pigments, decorative paints and industrial coatings. Production of zinc oxide at Rostov-on-Don will be increased. Currently, the Rostov paint factory has 1500 employees and the Elaks industrial coatings plant at Odessa (Ukraine) has 450 employees: these numbers may be reduced as part of the streamlining exercise. Empils will retain its office at Almaty (Kazakhstan) for handling exports to the Central Asian republics. It will also retain its Moscow sales office. European Paint and Resin News, Jul 2005, 43 (7), 4
AUGUST 2005
ON
PIGMENTS
Spain, Egypt, Jordan & Morocco: Omya – ground calcium carbonate Omya Clariana has inaugurated a new 300,000 tonne/y ground calcium carbonate (GCC) facility at Darro (Andalucia province). The new facility, which cost €9 M to build, is located next to a quarry with limestone noted for its purity, hardness and whiteness. The GCC from Darro will be sold to customers in the paper, plastic, paint, food, construction, ceramic, detergent, automotive, cosmetic, pharmaceutical and animal feed sectors. Omya Clariana is part of the familyowned Omya multinational (headquartered in Oftringen, Switzerland), which has a global annual turnover in excess of €2 bn and employs more than 5000 people at about 100 locations in 40 different countries. The group has recently increased its prominence in the Middle East and North Africa, with the acquisition of GCC facilities in Egypt, Jordan and Morocco. Ingenieria Quimica, Jul/Aug 2005, (426), 30 (in Spanish) & Double Liaison, Jul 2005, 3 (545), 22-23 (in French)
United Kingdom, Germany & India: Yule Catto – hair colorants Yule Catto intends to transfer production of hair colorants and intermediates from the Huddersfield site in northern England to other group facilities in Germany and India. This will entail the cessation of chemicals manufacture and the loss of 36 jobs at James Robinson Co Ltd, the wholly-owned UK subsidiary. Research and development activities will remain in the newly built UK laboratories. Chemical and Engineering News, 11 Jul 2005, 83 (28), 15-16 (Website: http://www.cen-online.org)
United Kingdom: Douglas Baker – masterbatch Douglas Baker Plastics (of Wolverhampton) is one of the longest established plastics masterbatch producers in the country. It recently celebrated its 30th anniversary. One of the company’s best known product lines is the BakerGlow range of photoluminescent masterbatches, based on strontium aluminate
pigments. Baker also takes on a substantial amount of toll compounding business. In previous years, the company has experienced a seasonal lull in demand during July and August. But this has not been the case in 2005. Consequently, there may be scope for expansion. Plastics and Rubber Weekly, 29 Jul 2005, 10
United States & China: Elementis – iron oxide pigments Elementis has announced plans to close a large section of its East St Louis iron oxide pigment plant in Illinois. About 100 out of the 150 workers at this location will lose their jobs. Production at East St Louis has been reduced with immediate effect, compensated mainly by increasing output at the company’s plant in Taichang (China). The Taichang plant in Shanghai province cost £10 M to build and was officially inaugurated in March 2005. (See also ‘Focus on Pigments, May 2005, 4). Elementis will retain the East St Louis office for its pigment business headquarters and there will continue to be “limited production” at the site, at least until the end of 2006. The company’s other US pigment manufacturing operations in Pennsylvania and California and its plants at Market Harborough and Birtley (in England) will be unaffected by the move. Elementis states that the partial closure of the East St Louis plant had resulted from an assessment of the capital costs, maintenance costs and safety records at each of its global pigment facilities. The company stated that the move will boost its asset productivity and free cashflow. Elementis will take a £7 M charge in its full-year 2005 accounts to provide for costs associated with the production transfer and employee severance. For the six months to end-June 2005, the Pigments division reported operating profit at £300,000 on sales of £46.6 M, as against virtually zero profit on sales of £40 M in 1H 2004. Prices improved by about 6%, but sales volumes were lower due to weak demand in both Europe and the US. Profit margins suffered because
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Russia: Empils – zinc oxide Empils, one of the top ten paint and pigments companies in Russia, is streamlining its activities to concentrate on zinc oxide pigments, decorative paints and industrial coatings. Production of zinc oxide at Rostov-on-Don will be increased. Currently, the Rostov paint factory has 1500 employees and the Elaks industrial coatings plant at Odessa (Ukraine) has 450 employees: these numbers may be reduced as part of the streamlining exercise. Empils will retain its office at Almaty (Kazakhstan) for handling exports to the Central Asian republics. It will also retain its Moscow sales office. European Paint and Resin News, Jul 2005, 43 (7), 4
AUGUST 2005
ON
PIGMENTS
Spain, Egypt, Jordan & Morocco: Omya – ground calcium carbonate Omya Clariana has inaugurated a new 300,000 tonne/y ground calcium carbonate (GCC) facility at Darro (Andalucia province). The new facility, which cost €9 M to build, is located next to a quarry with limestone noted for its purity, hardness and whiteness. The GCC from Darro will be sold to customers in the paper, plastic, paint, food, construction, ceramic, detergent, automotive, cosmetic, pharmaceutical and animal feed sectors. Omya Clariana is part of the familyowned Omya multinational (headquartered in Oftringen, Switzerland), which has a global annual turnover in excess of €2 bn and employs more than 5000 people at about 100 locations in 40 different countries. The group has recently increased its prominence in the Middle East and North Africa, with the acquisition of GCC facilities in Egypt, Jordan and Morocco. Ingenieria Quimica, Jul/Aug 2005, (426), 30 (in Spanish) & Double Liaison, Jul 2005, 3 (545), 22-23 (in French)
United Kingdom, Germany & India: Yule Catto – hair colorants Yule Catto intends to transfer production of hair colorants and intermediates from the Huddersfield site in northern England to other group facilities in Germany and India. This will entail the cessation of chemicals manufacture and the loss of 36 jobs at James Robinson Co Ltd, the wholly-owned UK subsidiary. Research and development activities will remain in the newly built UK laboratories. Chemical and Engineering News, 11 Jul 2005, 83 (28), 15-16 (Website: http://www.cen-online.org)
United Kingdom: Douglas Baker – masterbatch Douglas Baker Plastics (of Wolverhampton) is one of the longest established plastics masterbatch producers in the country. It recently celebrated its 30th anniversary. One of the company’s best known product lines is the BakerGlow range of photoluminescent masterbatches, based on strontium aluminate
pigments. Baker also takes on a substantial amount of toll compounding business. In previous years, the company has experienced a seasonal lull in demand during July and August. But this has not been the case in 2005. Consequently, there may be scope for expansion. Plastics and Rubber Weekly, 29 Jul 2005, 10
United States & China: Elementis – iron oxide pigments Elementis has announced plans to close a large section of its East St Louis iron oxide pigment plant in Illinois. About 100 out of the 150 workers at this location will lose their jobs. Production at East St Louis has been reduced with immediate effect, compensated mainly by increasing output at the company’s plant in Taichang (China). The Taichang plant in Shanghai province cost £10 M to build and was officially inaugurated in March 2005. (See also ‘Focus on Pigments, May 2005, 4). Elementis will retain the East St Louis office for its pigment business headquarters and there will continue to be “limited production” at the site, at least until the end of 2006. The company’s other US pigment manufacturing operations in Pennsylvania and California and its plants at Market Harborough and Birtley (in England) will be unaffected by the move. Elementis states that the partial closure of the East St Louis plant had resulted from an assessment of the capital costs, maintenance costs and safety records at each of its global pigment facilities. The company stated that the move will boost its asset productivity and free cashflow. Elementis will take a £7 M charge in its full-year 2005 accounts to provide for costs associated with the production transfer and employee severance. For the six months to end-June 2005, the Pigments division reported operating profit at £300,000 on sales of £46.6 M, as against virtually zero profit on sales of £40 M in 1H 2004. Prices improved by about 6%, but sales volumes were lower due to weak demand in both Europe and the US. Profit margins suffered because
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