Clariant acquires organic pigment business of Jiangsu Multicolor and invests in new plant in China

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Clariant, a world leader in specialty chemicals, has announced that it has acquired the Organic Pigment business of Jiangsu Multicolor Fine Chemical (JMC) based in Jiangsu Province, China, reported the company on its site.

JMC is a leading supplier of several types of high performance pigments and pigment preparations in China. The business recorded sales of RMB 210 million (approximately CHF 30 million). It manufactures and markets pigments and pigment preparations mainly for customers in coatings, plastics and printing inks in the domestic and export markets.

Additionally, as part of this project, Clariant will build a world scale Pigment PV23 plant in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province, China. The plant will be designed to ensure highest yields, lowest cost and the highest efficiency in terms of sustainable operations and full compliance with local and international regulatory standards.

The bolt-on acquisition and the subsequent investment in a new plant allows Clariant to expand its pigments and pigment preparation activities in China in order to have better access to customers in the region and especially in China.

The new plant, together with the other facilities in its manufacturing network, reinforces Clariant’s ongoing commitment to fulfil the growing demand of customers in coatings, plastics, printing inks and other applications for high-quality products and solutions.

As MRC wrote earlier, Clariant has recently announced the closing of the sale of its Textile Chemicals, Paper Specialties and Emulsions businesses to SK Capital. Starting 1 October 2013, the three former Clariant businesses are now operating under the name Archroma. Worldwide, 2,900 employees will transfer to Archroma.

Clariant AG is a Swiss chemical company and a world leader in the production of specialty chemicals for the textile, printing, mining and metallurgical industries. It is engaged in processing crude oil products in pigments, plastics and paints.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Royal DSM has signed a partnership agreement with PlastiComp, Inc., based in Winona, Minnesota, USA, to develop new innovative bio-based Long Fiber Thermoplastic (LFT) composite materials for the automotive and other performance-driven markets, said Plastemart.

Central to this partnership is DSM’s commitment to sustainability—in this case with its EcoPaXX polyamide 410, 70% derived from renewable resources—and PlastiComp’s expertise in LFT composites design and manufacturing. Initial compounding, molding and testing of carbon-fiber reinforced EcoPaXX was successful in establishing benchmark composites for high-temperature (up to 200°C) and structural applications. The LFT composites DSM is co-developing with PlastiComp—which include compounds reinforced with glass fiber as well as carbon fiber—have an much improved Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) score, thanks to the carbon neutral cradle-to-gate footprint of the EcoPaXX polymer. These composites are well suited to weight optimization efforts in the automotive industry for fuel savings and lowered emissions.

The two partner companies will also collaborate with potential customers to design injection-molded composite parts. They will employ computer-aided engineering (CAE) tools to ensure optimized fiber architecture to meet stringent requirements for dimensional tolerances, surface finish and high-temperature properties.

While the principal focus of the partnership is on automotive applications, composites that DSM and PlastiComp are developing are also attractive in other metal-replacement applications. Grades can, for example, leverage material characteristics such as electro-magnetic interference (EMI) shielding for electronics, and radiolucency in X-Ray applications, thereby enhancing the value of light-weight, high performance, metal substitutions.

We remind that, DSM is going to invest about EUR100 million in three new R&D facilities in Delft and Sittard-Geleen (both in the Netherlands) over the next two years.

DSM delivers innovative solutions that nourish, protect and improve performance in global markets such as food and dietary supplements, personal care, feed, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, automotive, paints, electrical and electronics, life protection, alternative energy and bio-based materials.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Carbon fibre and plastics specialist Teijin (Tokyo / Japan) has established a Russian subsidiary, Teijin Rus, as part of its strategy to expand businesses in emerging economies, said Plasteurope.

The new company, which was created 1 October 2013, has absorbed the existing local office that was established in 2006.

Teijin Rus will handle group-wide sales and research demand as well as business opportunities in Russia and CIS, which the Teijin group includes as priority markets in its medium- to long-term growth plan.

"We hope to strengthen our presence by supplying the Russian market with our diversified solutions, especially for the aerospace industry, where the government is aiming to realise greater competitiveness, and the automotive industry, which is expected to become the largest market in Europe in the late 2010s," explained Kentaro Arao, chief marketing officer and director of Teijin’s BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) business.

As MRC wrote before, South Korea-based chemical producer SK Chemicals will launch a joint venture (JV) with Japan's Teijin Chemicals for developing, producing and marketing a super-engineering plastic, polyphenylene sulfide (PPS). The proposed JV will set up PPS resin production plants to manufacture 12,000 tons per year (tpy) of PPS by 2015.

Teijin Limited is a Japanese chemical and pharmaceutical company. It is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Its main fields of operation are high-performance fibers such as aramid, carbon fibers and composites, healthcare, films, resin & plastic processing, polyester fibers, products converting and IT. Consolidated turnover for 2012 is USD 7.4 billion (JPY 745.7 billion). Teijin has approximately 17,000 employees worldwide.
MRC

MOSCoW (MRC) -- Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corporation, has established Mitsubishi Chemical Performance Polymers Europe B.V. and has started its operation as a regional headquarters for the performance polymers business in Europe, reported the company on its site.

This company will integrally hold all European performance polymers business including CTS Group companies acquired from Tessenderlo Group on June 18, 2013. Together with the new management structure, all European performance polymers companies have started operation with new corporate names as of October 1, 2013 as listed in the reference below.

Furthermore, Mitsubishi Chemical will strengthen its business in China by renaming APCO (SUZHOU) CO., LTD to Mitsubishi Chemical Performance Polymers (China) Co., Ltd. and will pursue integrated management in China for CTS Automotive Compounds (Changshu) Co., Ltd.

New management structures both in Europe and China are in line with the business strategy of performance polymers, a growth business in the company portfolio, to accelerate integration and expansion of thermoplastic elastomers, cross-linked polymers, adhesive polymers, and PVC compounds for the automobiles, medical care, food, and building industries.

We remind that, as MRC informed previously, in April 2013, Mitsubishi Chemical has purchased all of the assets related to Comtrex's compounding business. The acquisition of the Comtrex business is expected to help MCC speed up the expansion of its performance polymers business through its networks across the world. Having been engaged in the PVC compounding business for more than 30 years, Comtrex started developing a line of vulcanized thermoplastic elastomers (TPV) in 2000 and selling the product in 2002.

Mitsubishi Chemical with headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, is a diversified chemical company involved in petrochemicals, polymers, agrochemicals, speciality chemicals and pharmaceuticals. The company's main focus is on three business pillars: petrochemicals, performance and functional products, and health care.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Solvay SA agreed to buy U.S.-based Chemlogics for USD1.35 billion in cash to expand its offering of chemicals for the oil and gas industry, said Bloomberg.

The Belgian chemical maker is paying 10.7 times earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for the business, which generated about USD500 million in annual sales, it said today in a statement. The Brussels-based company will issue about EUR1 billion (USD1.35 billion) in hybrid bonds to support finances.

The purchase is part of a transformation orchestrated by Chief Executive Officer Jean-Pierre Clamadieu as he expands Solvay’s offering of more profitable chemicals used in oil and gas extraction. Demand for Chemlogics’ products is growing at more than 10%, Solvay said. That contrasts with a slump in sales at polyvinyl chloride operations that Clamadieu is seeking to exit via a joint venture with Ineos.

"This acquisition accelerates Solvay’s ongoing transformation," Clamadieu said in the statement.

As MRC wrote before, Solvay and Ineos Group Holdings, which plan to merge their European vinyl chloride assets in a EUR4.3 billion (USD5.7 billion) deal, may sell a German site to help win regulatory approval. Ineos’s site in Schkopau, with the capacity to make about 150,000 tons of PVC a year, may fetch about EUR60 million.

Solvay S.A. is a Belgian chemical company founded in 1863, with its head office in Neder-Over-Heembeek, Brussels, Belgium. The company has diversified into two major sectors of activity: chemicals and plastics. Solvay supplies over 1500 products across 35 brands of high-performance polymers – fluoropolymers, fluoroelastomers, fluorinated fluids, semi-aromatic polyamides, sulfone polymers, aromatic ultra polymers, high-barrier polymers and cross-linked high-performance compounds.

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