France & US: Eliokem – styrenebutadiene resins

Eliokem was established in 2001,when Goodyear hived off its specialitychemicals operations in France, theUS and China. The Pliolite styrenebutadiene (SBR) resins business wasincluded in these operations. Eliokemrecently declared its commitment toraising capacity for Pliolite-S5 resinsat its Le Havre (France) and Akron,Ohio (US) plants. Pliolite-S5 resinsare mainly used for clear andpigmented masonry and concretecoatings, known as crépis. They arealso used for electrographic toners,marine paints, and road-markingpaints.

Paint & Coatings Industry (PCI), Jun 2005, 21 (6), 22

Germany: Clariant – masterbatch

Clariant Masterbatches has installednew facilities for extrusion and blow-moulding at its Lahnstein plant. Thecompany notes that this will make itmore efficient to produce samples forEuropean designers to evaluateoptions in new colour and specialeffect pigments.

Plastiques et Caoutchoucs Magazine, May 2005,(831), 46 (in French)

Germany: Wild Flavors Berlin – foodcolorants

Wild Flavors Berlin GmbH & Corecently announced a 30% increase inits capacity for making variousflavours and food colorants. Nofurther details are available.

Chemical Market Reporter, 27 Jun 2005, (Website:http://www.chemicalmarketreporter.com)

India: DCW – synrutile & yellow ironoxide

DCW Ltd (formerly DharangadhraChemical Works) has announcedplans to raise its capacity atSahupuram (Tamil Nadu province) forthe production of synrutile and yellowiron oxide pigments. It is not clearwhether the proposed increase insynrutile capacity will be accompaniedby an expansion in the company’ssupply of Utox, a proprietary buff-coloured TiO2 pigment based on finelymilled synrutile. DCW is alsoconverting its chloralkali facilities frommercury-cell to membrane technology.

For the year to end-March 2005,DCW declared a net profit of Rup210.2 M on sales of Rup 7696.7 M.That compares against Rup 213.8 Mon sales of Rup 6913.6 M for the yearto end-March 2004.

Business Line, 30 Jun 2005, 12 (180), 3

India: Stork – TiO2 feedstock

Stork Handelsgesellschaft mbH (ofLinz, Austria) plans to mine titaniumminerals in the Srikakulam district ofAndhra Pradesh province. In the firstphase of this project, the company willinvest about $200 M to bring the mineinto production. In the second phase,Stork plans to invest about $800 M toestablish value-added facilities, whichmay include facilities for makingtitanium metal or pigments.

Stork is already well-known as oneof the major sales agents for ilmeniteand rutile produced by the Volnogorskcombine in the Ukraine. Stork alsosells titanium metal products fromvarious Russian sources.

Chemical Engineering World, May 2005, 40 (5), 30

Japan: Merck – pearlescents

As foreshadowed in ‘Focus onPigments’, Nov 2004, 5, Merck hasformally committed itself to building athird line for making Xirallicpearlescent pigments at its Onahamaplant. The new line should be readyfor operations in early 2006. Xirallicpigments are based on high-purityalumina flakes. The range nowconsists of about 10 different colours.Total world sales of Xirallic pigmentsare currently of the order of Yen 5 bnper annum to customers in the plasticsand automotive paint industries.

Japan Chemical Week, 9 Jun 2005, 46 (2321), 3

Mexico: Ampacet – masterbatch

Ampacet has broken ground at theconstruction site earmarked for a newcolour masterbatch plant at Queretaro(about 190 km northwest of MexicoCity). The floor area of the new plantwill be about 3700 square metres. Itwill contain multiple twin-screwextruder lines, a blending station anda colour service and developmentcentre. The plant should be ready foroperation by the end of 2005.

Mr Doug Brownfield (Strategic

Business Manager) said: “The newplant will support our broad base ofbusiness in Mexico, which wecurrently serve from the US andSouth America. We sited the newfacility in Queretaro because thisregion is a centre for plasticsmanufacturing and many of ourcustomers will be within easy reach ofthe plant. The new plant and thecolour lab here will be structured forquick turnaround times and greaterspeed to market, both of which arevital to the packaging sector.”

Ampacet claims to be the world’slargest volume masterbatch supplier,offering the broadest range of colour,black, white, special effect andspeciality additive masterbatches. TheAmpacet group (headquartered inTarrytown, NY) was founded in 1937and nowadays employs more than1400 people. Its global annualrevenues exceed $625 M.

Press release from: Ampacet Corp, 660 White PlainsRoad, Tarrytown, NY 10591, USA (10 Jun 2005)

Pakistan: Cestisa/DevelopedTechnologies – metallic pigments

The Cestisa group (of Barcelona)intends to expand its production ofmetallic pigments at a plant in theKarachi tax-free export zone. Theplant is operated by DevelopedTechnologies Ltd. Cestisa alsooperates plants at Barcelona (Spain),Garden Grove, California (US) andNew Delhi (India). Its metallicpigments offer iridescent, holographicor glimmer effects and they aremarketed under the brandnamesZarinex, Starmist, Stardust, Dannyand Sona.

Press release from: European Glitters SA, Bailen 43,Pral 08010, Barcelona, Spain. Fax : +34 93 265 4994(13 Jun 2005)

South Korea: MCA Technologies & FirstColor – DPP pigments

Diketo-pyrrolo-pyrrole (DPP) pigmentswere first invented by Ciba more than20 years ago, but now that patentprotection has expired a number ofother companies, including Clariantand Dai Nippon Inks & Chemicals(DIC), have moved into the DPPpigments field.

MCA Technologies GmbH is aSwiss company, apparentlyindependent of Ciba, which claims to

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