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US: Elementis – inorganic pigments
FOCUS
ON
PIGMENTS
US: Degussa – precipitated silica
US: Huber & Kaoclay/Sparta – kaolin
Degussa’s Advanced Fillers & Pigments business unit is debottlenecking its precipitated silica plant at Chester, PA. Precise details on the scale of the project have not been revealed, but ‘CW’ reports that the company will add “some million pounds of capacity by the end of 2004” to meet the growing demand in the US, mainly from the tyre and life sciences industries.
In early 2002, Kaoclay Resources Inc (of Nova Scotia, Canada) signed an agreement with J.M.Huber Corp, whereby Huber would evaluate and eventually develop kaolin deposits in South Carolina and Georgia identified by Sparta Kaolin (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kaoclay Resources). Kaoclay had always declared that it had no intention of becoming a kaolin producer in its own right. Sparta Kaolin claimed to have a premiumgrade kaolin resource of 63.5 M tonnes. (See also ‘Focus on Pigments’, May 2002, 5 & Aug 2001, 5). Kaoclay and Huber recently agreed to revise the terms of their agreement. Huber will now have access to 925,000 in situ crude wet tonnes of Sparta kaolin for an outlay of $1.645 M. This amount comprises: the $650,000 initially paid to Kaoclay in 2003; $625,000 paid on execution of the recently revised agreement; and $370,000 to be paid in three instalments, the last of which will be settled on or before 15 January 2005. The revised deal also gives Huber the option to acquire a further 864,000 in situ crude wet tonnes of kaolin by making further investments of $2.591 M in instalments payable on or before 15 July 2006. As a result, Kaoclay’s long-term debt has been substantially reduced.
Chemical Week, 18 Aug 2004, 166 (27)
US: Elementis – inorganic pigments Due to flash floods in eastern Pennsylvania, production of inorganic pigments at the Easton, PA, plant of Elementis was disrupted during September 2004. Appropriate insurance cover was in place, but the company has warned that the disruption will affect the year’s profits from the Pigments unit. Press release from: Elementis plc. Website: http://www.elementis.com (23 Sep 2004)
US: Holland Colors – plastics colorants Holland Colors America Inc is spending $3 M on a new building at its Richmond, IN, site. The building is the third on the site and it will have 42,500 square feet of floor space, housing two production lines for making Holcobatch, Holcoprill and Holcosil micro-bead colour concentrates for thermoplastics. All of these products are based on Holland Colours’ proprietary non-resin carrier, so they can be used with virtually any type of polymer. The new building should be completed in December 2004 and it will enable Holland Colors to shift production out of currently leased premises. Holland Colors America is a wholly-owned subsidiary within the Holland Colours group (headquarterd in Apeldoorn in the Netherlands). Sales of the US subsidiary increased by 10-12% to around $25 M in 2003 and sales growth is continuing on this trendline during 2004. Plastics Additives and Compounding, May/Jun 2004, 6 (3), 16 & Plastics News, 19 Jul 2004 (Website: http://www.plasticsnews.com)
OCTOBER 2004
Industrial Minerals, Sep 2004, (444), 9
US: Kerr-McGee – TiO2 Kerr-McGee permanently closed the 54,000 tonnes/y sulfate-route TiO2 pigment plant at Savannah, GA, at the end of September 2004. About eight months previously, the company had closed one of its three lines at this plant, reducing capacity from 54,000 tonnes/y to 36,000 tonnes/y and laying-off 39 workers. However, the move was described as temporary and Kerr-McGee said that it might rehire some of these workers when the market picks up. (See ‘Focus on Pigments’, Mar 2004, 4). The permanent closure of the entire sulfate-route plant was announced in mid-September, only two weeks before implementation. In making this announcement, the company reported that the Savannah
sulfate-route plant had accounted for nearly 4% of its global TiO2 pigment output in 1H 2004. The closure is expected to result in an improvement in Kerr-McGee Chemical’s operating profit of about $15 M per annum. The Savannah sulfate-route plant was part of the package of assets acquired by Kerr-McGee from Kemira in April 2000. Also included in that package were the chloride-route TiO2 plants at Savannah and at Botlek (Netherlands). Both these plants have been expanded since the ownership transfer, from 91,000 tonnes/y to 110,000 tonnes/y and from 56,000 tonnes/y to 72,000 tonnes/y respectively. As part of the effluent control system installed at Savannah during the 1970s, all the spent sulfuric acid arising from the sulfate-route TiO2 plant was converted to marketable gypsum. With the closure of the sulfate-route TiO2 plant, by-product gypsum will no longer be produced. Kerr-McGee will continue to sell stockpiled gypsum until inventories are exhausted. The TiO2 pigment grades produced at the Savannah sulfate-route plant included several products designed to meet the requirements of North American papermakers. Other products produced here were designed to cater for special applications in the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. Kerr-McGee has made it clear that once its current inventories of suitable sulfate grades are exhausted, it will no longer cater for the needs of those particular North American papermakers. However, the business in food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic grades will be catered for by Kerr McGee’s Uerdingen sulfate-route plant. The permanent closure of the sulfate-route plant and associated facilities will result in a cutback in the workforce at Savannah from 410 to 310. In addition, the daily contractor workforce will be reduced by 40. Commitments for employee severance and decommissioning costs will result in Kerr-McGee taking a special charge in its 3Q 2004 accounts of about $75-85 M. Press release from: Kerr-McGee Chemicals LLC, PO Box 25861, Oklahoma City, OK 73125, USA. Tel: +1 866 378 9899 (15 Sep 2004)
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ON
PIGMENTS
US: Degussa – precipitated silica
US: Huber & Kaoclay/Sparta – kaolin
Degussa’s Advanced Fillers & Pigments business unit is debottlenecking its precipitated silica plant at Chester, PA. Precise details on the scale of the project have not been revealed, but ‘CW’ reports that the company will add “some million pounds of capacity by the end of 2004” to meet the growing demand in the US, mainly from the tyre and life sciences industries.
In early 2002, Kaoclay Resources Inc (of Nova Scotia, Canada) signed an agreement with J.M.Huber Corp, whereby Huber would evaluate and eventually develop kaolin deposits in South Carolina and Georgia identified by Sparta Kaolin (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kaoclay Resources). Kaoclay had always declared that it had no intention of becoming a kaolin producer in its own right. Sparta Kaolin claimed to have a premiumgrade kaolin resource of 63.5 M tonnes. (See also ‘Focus on Pigments’, May 2002, 5 & Aug 2001, 5). Kaoclay and Huber recently agreed to revise the terms of their agreement. Huber will now have access to 925,000 in situ crude wet tonnes of Sparta kaolin for an outlay of $1.645 M. This amount comprises: the $650,000 initially paid to Kaoclay in 2003; $625,000 paid on execution of the recently revised agreement; and $370,000 to be paid in three instalments, the last of which will be settled on or before 15 January 2005. The revised deal also gives Huber the option to acquire a further 864,000 in situ crude wet tonnes of kaolin by making further investments of $2.591 M in instalments payable on or before 15 July 2006. As a result, Kaoclay’s long-term debt has been substantially reduced.
Chemical Week, 18 Aug 2004, 166 (27)
US: Elementis – inorganic pigments Due to flash floods in eastern Pennsylvania, production of inorganic pigments at the Easton, PA, plant of Elementis was disrupted during September 2004. Appropriate insurance cover was in place, but the company has warned that the disruption will affect the year’s profits from the Pigments unit. Press release from: Elementis plc. Website: http://www.elementis.com (23 Sep 2004)
US: Holland Colors – plastics colorants Holland Colors America Inc is spending $3 M on a new building at its Richmond, IN, site. The building is the third on the site and it will have 42,500 square feet of floor space, housing two production lines for making Holcobatch, Holcoprill and Holcosil micro-bead colour concentrates for thermoplastics. All of these products are based on Holland Colours’ proprietary non-resin carrier, so they can be used with virtually any type of polymer. The new building should be completed in December 2004 and it will enable Holland Colors to shift production out of currently leased premises. Holland Colors America is a wholly-owned subsidiary within the Holland Colours group (headquarterd in Apeldoorn in the Netherlands). Sales of the US subsidiary increased by 10-12% to around $25 M in 2003 and sales growth is continuing on this trendline during 2004. Plastics Additives and Compounding, May/Jun 2004, 6 (3), 16 & Plastics News, 19 Jul 2004 (Website: http://www.plasticsnews.com)
OCTOBER 2004
Industrial Minerals, Sep 2004, (444), 9
US: Kerr-McGee – TiO2 Kerr-McGee permanently closed the 54,000 tonnes/y sulfate-route TiO2 pigment plant at Savannah, GA, at the end of September 2004. About eight months previously, the company had closed one of its three lines at this plant, reducing capacity from 54,000 tonnes/y to 36,000 tonnes/y and laying-off 39 workers. However, the move was described as temporary and Kerr-McGee said that it might rehire some of these workers when the market picks up. (See ‘Focus on Pigments’, Mar 2004, 4). The permanent closure of the entire sulfate-route plant was announced in mid-September, only two weeks before implementation. In making this announcement, the company reported that the Savannah
sulfate-route plant had accounted for nearly 4% of its global TiO2 pigment output in 1H 2004. The closure is expected to result in an improvement in Kerr-McGee Chemical’s operating profit of about $15 M per annum. The Savannah sulfate-route plant was part of the package of assets acquired by Kerr-McGee from Kemira in April 2000. Also included in that package were the chloride-route TiO2 plants at Savannah and at Botlek (Netherlands). Both these plants have been expanded since the ownership transfer, from 91,000 tonnes/y to 110,000 tonnes/y and from 56,000 tonnes/y to 72,000 tonnes/y respectively. As part of the effluent control system installed at Savannah during the 1970s, all the spent sulfuric acid arising from the sulfate-route TiO2 plant was converted to marketable gypsum. With the closure of the sulfate-route TiO2 plant, by-product gypsum will no longer be produced. Kerr-McGee will continue to sell stockpiled gypsum until inventories are exhausted. The TiO2 pigment grades produced at the Savannah sulfate-route plant included several products designed to meet the requirements of North American papermakers. Other products produced here were designed to cater for special applications in the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. Kerr-McGee has made it clear that once its current inventories of suitable sulfate grades are exhausted, it will no longer cater for the needs of those particular North American papermakers. However, the business in food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic grades will be catered for by Kerr McGee’s Uerdingen sulfate-route plant. The permanent closure of the sulfate-route plant and associated facilities will result in a cutback in the workforce at Savannah from 410 to 310. In addition, the daily contractor workforce will be reduced by 40. Commitments for employee severance and decommissioning costs will result in Kerr-McGee taking a special charge in its 3Q 2004 accounts of about $75-85 M. Press release from: Kerr-McGee Chemicals LLC, PO Box 25861, Oklahoma City, OK 73125, USA. Tel: +1 866 378 9899 (15 Sep 2004)
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