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US: Standridge – plastics colorants
FOCUS the Asia/Pacific region, making colour concentrates, masterbatches and plastic compounds. Plastics News, 5 Oct 2004, (Website: http://www.plasticsnews.com)
US: Standridge – plastics colorants Standridge Color Corp plans to open its colour compounds and concentrates unit at Defiance, OH before the end of this year. The new property, built at a cost of $1.8 M, will have 29,000 square feet of floor space. About 20 people will be employed here. The company was given a $200,000 grant from the local authorities for the installation of a railway spur to serve its new factory site. The Standridge group (headquartered in Georgia) is a significant player in the plastics colorants field, with annual sales of about $150 M, a workforce of around 350 and a total capacity in excess of 140,000 tonnes/y. Plastics News, 8 Sep 2004 (Website: http://www.plasticsnews.com)
US: Sumika – plastics masterbatch Sumika Color already produces plastics masterbatch in Japan, China and Singapore. Now the company has established a wholly-owned subsidiary in the US and it is considering investment in setting up a manufacturing unit in the US. As a first step towards developing a better understanding of the market, Sumika is renting a 1000 tonnes/y masterbatch facility in the southern US, owned by Comtec Polymers. From this facility, Sumika will supply colour masterbatches to Sumitomo’s 5000 tonnes/y thermoplastic elastomers unit in Georgia. Japan Chemical Week, 26 Aug 2004, 45 (2283), 9
US: TOR Minerals – Hitox titanium (milled synrutile) pigments At its Corpus Christi plant, TOR Minerals has added a new $1.5 M production unit for making Hitox pigments. These are essentially based on finely milled synrutile, the feedstock being imported from the company’s subsidiary in Malaysia. Limited production at the new Corpus Christi unit began towards the end of
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September 2004 and the unit is expected to be fully operational by the end of the year. This will raise capacity for making Hitox pigments from 15,000 tonnes/y to 25,000 tonnes/y. The new facilities are also associated with significantly lower energy costs. For the first six months of 2004, TOR Minerals declared a post-tax profit of $431,000 on sales of $12.4 M, compared against $435,000 on $9.9 M in 1H 2003. Industrial Minerals, Sep 2004, (444), 9 & Press release from: TOR Minerals, 722 Burleson Street, Corpus Christi, TX 78402, USA. Tel: +1 512 882 5175. Website: http://www.torminerals.com (4 Aug 2004)
COMPANIES Akzo Nobel & BASF exchange wood protection & paints assets Akzo Nobel and BASF have agreed on an exchange of certain of their paints businesses. BASF will transfer its wood protection and coatings activities to Akzo Nobel. These activities bring in a total sales revenue of €17 M. BASF will also transfer its paints production at Munster to the Akzo Nobel site at Cologne. Akzo Nobel will transfer to BASF some of its paints activities in Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Switzerland and Spain. Akzo Nobel divested its Hungarian paint business to Tikkurila and sold its French industrial resins subsidiary to Derivados Forestales. BASF recently exchanged certain of its wood protection activities with those belonging to the Treffert group. Chimie Pharma Hebdo, 30 Aug 2004, (265), 10 (in French)
Albion buys Stahl’s paper colorants business & sells caramel colorants for Williamson Albion Chemicals has agreed to acquire the paper colorants business of Stahl Industrial Colorants. The acquisition includes the recently constructed plant at Halifax in Yorkshire. Meanwhile, Stahl’s French paper colorants plant is to be closed. (See also ‘Focus on Pigments’, Oct 2004, 4). Colorants is now Albion’s major
business sector and the company supplies a wide range of products. Earlier this year, Albion was appointed as a UK distributor of caramel colorants, produced by D.D.Williamson (of the US). Pulp and Paper International, Oct 2004, 46 (10), 14 & European Chemical News, 13 Sep 2004, 81 (2115), 18
CVRD sells 82% stake in Para Pigmentos to Caemi As noted in ‘Focus on Pigments’, Jun 2004, 3, Cia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD) had emerged as the dominant player in the Brazilian kaolin industry, with substantial shareholdings in both Caulim da Amazonia (Cadam) and Para Pigmentos. Cadam can produce nearly 1 M tonnes/y of kaolin from the Morro do Felipe mine on the River Jari. Para Pigmentos can produce 600,000 tonnes/y from its kaolin mining operations on the River Capim. Towards the end of October, CVRD announced that it had sold its shareholding in Para Pigmentos to Caemi Mineracao & Metalurgia. CVRD had owned 85.6% of the voting capital and 82% of the total capital of Para Pigmentos. The value of the transaction was $117.8 M. Caemi already owned 61% of Cadam’s sharecapital. Explaining the rationale for this move, CVRD stated: “The objective is to consolidate the kaolin business under Caemi. Para Pigmentos and Cadam produce different but complementary types of kaolin for paper coating. Moreover, they are performing studies for the development of kaolin products for other applications, so as to create a more diversified portfolio. There are several synergies to be explored. Such synergies arise mostly from expected operational and logistical gains (estimated at $16.1 M) and from the combined marketing of fine and coarse kaolins product lines (roughly $8.2 M).” In the first six months of 2004, Cadam produced 373,000 tonnes of kaolin and contributed about 10% of the Caemi group’s total revenue. In the first six months of 2004, Para Pigmentos sold 198,700 tonnes of kaolin, generating net sales revenues of $30.9 M. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) amounted to $8.4 M. As at
NOVEMBER 2004
US: Standridge – plastics colorants Standridge Color Corp plans to open its colour compounds and concentrates unit at Defiance, OH before the end of this year. The new property, built at a cost of $1.8 M, will have 29,000 square feet of floor space. About 20 people will be employed here. The company was given a $200,000 grant from the local authorities for the installation of a railway spur to serve its new factory site. The Standridge group (headquartered in Georgia) is a significant player in the plastics colorants field, with annual sales of about $150 M, a workforce of around 350 and a total capacity in excess of 140,000 tonnes/y. Plastics News, 8 Sep 2004 (Website: http://www.plasticsnews.com)
US: Sumika – plastics masterbatch Sumika Color already produces plastics masterbatch in Japan, China and Singapore. Now the company has established a wholly-owned subsidiary in the US and it is considering investment in setting up a manufacturing unit in the US. As a first step towards developing a better understanding of the market, Sumika is renting a 1000 tonnes/y masterbatch facility in the southern US, owned by Comtec Polymers. From this facility, Sumika will supply colour masterbatches to Sumitomo’s 5000 tonnes/y thermoplastic elastomers unit in Georgia. Japan Chemical Week, 26 Aug 2004, 45 (2283), 9
US: TOR Minerals – Hitox titanium (milled synrutile) pigments At its Corpus Christi plant, TOR Minerals has added a new $1.5 M production unit for making Hitox pigments. These are essentially based on finely milled synrutile, the feedstock being imported from the company’s subsidiary in Malaysia. Limited production at the new Corpus Christi unit began towards the end of
6
ON
PIGMENTS
September 2004 and the unit is expected to be fully operational by the end of the year. This will raise capacity for making Hitox pigments from 15,000 tonnes/y to 25,000 tonnes/y. The new facilities are also associated with significantly lower energy costs. For the first six months of 2004, TOR Minerals declared a post-tax profit of $431,000 on sales of $12.4 M, compared against $435,000 on $9.9 M in 1H 2003. Industrial Minerals, Sep 2004, (444), 9 & Press release from: TOR Minerals, 722 Burleson Street, Corpus Christi, TX 78402, USA. Tel: +1 512 882 5175. Website: http://www.torminerals.com (4 Aug 2004)
COMPANIES Akzo Nobel & BASF exchange wood protection & paints assets Akzo Nobel and BASF have agreed on an exchange of certain of their paints businesses. BASF will transfer its wood protection and coatings activities to Akzo Nobel. These activities bring in a total sales revenue of €17 M. BASF will also transfer its paints production at Munster to the Akzo Nobel site at Cologne. Akzo Nobel will transfer to BASF some of its paints activities in Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Switzerland and Spain. Akzo Nobel divested its Hungarian paint business to Tikkurila and sold its French industrial resins subsidiary to Derivados Forestales. BASF recently exchanged certain of its wood protection activities with those belonging to the Treffert group. Chimie Pharma Hebdo, 30 Aug 2004, (265), 10 (in French)
Albion buys Stahl’s paper colorants business & sells caramel colorants for Williamson Albion Chemicals has agreed to acquire the paper colorants business of Stahl Industrial Colorants. The acquisition includes the recently constructed plant at Halifax in Yorkshire. Meanwhile, Stahl’s French paper colorants plant is to be closed. (See also ‘Focus on Pigments’, Oct 2004, 4). Colorants is now Albion’s major
business sector and the company supplies a wide range of products. Earlier this year, Albion was appointed as a UK distributor of caramel colorants, produced by D.D.Williamson (of the US). Pulp and Paper International, Oct 2004, 46 (10), 14 & European Chemical News, 13 Sep 2004, 81 (2115), 18
CVRD sells 82% stake in Para Pigmentos to Caemi As noted in ‘Focus on Pigments’, Jun 2004, 3, Cia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD) had emerged as the dominant player in the Brazilian kaolin industry, with substantial shareholdings in both Caulim da Amazonia (Cadam) and Para Pigmentos. Cadam can produce nearly 1 M tonnes/y of kaolin from the Morro do Felipe mine on the River Jari. Para Pigmentos can produce 600,000 tonnes/y from its kaolin mining operations on the River Capim. Towards the end of October, CVRD announced that it had sold its shareholding in Para Pigmentos to Caemi Mineracao & Metalurgia. CVRD had owned 85.6% of the voting capital and 82% of the total capital of Para Pigmentos. The value of the transaction was $117.8 M. Caemi already owned 61% of Cadam’s sharecapital. Explaining the rationale for this move, CVRD stated: “The objective is to consolidate the kaolin business under Caemi. Para Pigmentos and Cadam produce different but complementary types of kaolin for paper coating. Moreover, they are performing studies for the development of kaolin products for other applications, so as to create a more diversified portfolio. There are several synergies to be explored. Such synergies arise mostly from expected operational and logistical gains (estimated at $16.1 M) and from the combined marketing of fine and coarse kaolins product lines (roughly $8.2 M).” In the first six months of 2004, Cadam produced 373,000 tonnes of kaolin and contributed about 10% of the Caemi group’s total revenue. In the first six months of 2004, Para Pigmentos sold 198,700 tonnes of kaolin, generating net sales revenues of $30.9 M. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) amounted to $8.4 M. As at
NOVEMBER 2004