luzenac creates worldwide polymers business unit

Plastics Additives & Compounding January/February 2005

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NewsINDUSTRY

Luzenac Group, a leading talcproducer, is extending itsbusiness unit organizationmodel worldwide. The fournew global Business Units arecentred on Luzenac's coremarkets, which includespolymers. The Business Units,with their sales and

development departments, arebased at the company'sregional headquarters inToulouse, France, Denver,USA, and Singapore. Worldwide marketdevelopment for flameretardant applications is theresponsibility of Kelvin Shen,

with Richard Clark handlingplastic packaging, decking andrailroad ties. Frederic Jouffret isresponsible for plasticautomotive and pipeapplications and Gilles Méli forrubber. Bob Beck, AlanMcCarthy and Frederic Clausswill manage sales in North

America, Europe and Asiarespectively.Contact:Luzenac GroupTel: +33 5 61 50 20 20Fax: +33 5 61 40 06 23E-mail:laura.jones@europe.luzenac.comWebsite: www.luzenac.com

Luzenac creates worldwide Polymers Business Unit

Basell has inaugurated its newpolypropylene compoundingplant at the Suzhou IndustrialPark, near Shanghai, China. Thecompany says that the plant willbe expanded in several phases toachieve the nameplate capacityof 60 kilo tonnes."I am extremely delighted thatwe have established a Basellcompounding operation inChina to meet our customers'advanced polyolefins needs,"says Sergio Danesi, president ofBasell Advanced Polyolefins.

"With our global network andlocal presence we are wellpositioned to address thedemands of the localautomotive, appliance andindustrial markets."The plant produces advancedpolyolefins marketed under theHostacom and Hifaxtrademarks. Combining thecost-competitiveness ofpolyolefins with theperformance of engineeringresins, Basell says that Hostacomand Hifax compounded resins

enable customers to producevalue-added applications withexceptional properties such ashigh impact strength, excellentscratch resistance, superior paintadhesion and low thermalexpansion. In addition, Basellsays that its Hostacom and Hifaxcompounded resins can be easilytailored to meet a variety ofdemanding application needs,have outstanding processabilityand can be recycled.According to Basell, togetherwith its joint ventures, it now

has a global PP compoundingbusiness network that includes15 countries. In addition toChina, Basell has compoundingplants in Argentina, Australia,Brazil, Germany, India, Italy,Japan, Malaysia, Spain, Taiwan,Thailand, the United Kingdomand the United States.

Contact:Tel: +1 302 438 6574E-mail: michelle.talmo@basell.comWebsite: www.basell.com

Basell establishes new Chinese compounding plant

Speciality alumina manufacturerAlmatis is expanding its Chinesesales organization by opening newsales offices in Shanghai andKaifeng, Hennan Province. TheShanghai office is headed byXiaomin Xu, and the Kaifengoffice by Chen Hao. Both newoffices are part of the QingdaoAlmatis Co., Ltd, Qingdao. Theexpansion of the sales forces is alsoaligned with the expansion planof the existing tabular aluminafacility at Huangdao in theShangdong province of China. According to Gangolf

Kriechbaum, chief commercialofficer: "The rising demand forhigh quality speciality aluminasin South East Asia and in Chinain particular calls for close andintegrated customer and supportservices. With our threestrategically located offices inChina we will meet the market'sdemand of today and tomorrow."Contact:Almatis GmbHTel: +49 69. 95 73 41 28E-mail: andreas.puetz@almatis.comWebsite: www.almatis.com

Almatis expandsChinese operations

Italian ancillary manufacturerPiovan is expanding andincreasing its presence inCentral Europe. The newsubsidiary Piovan CentralEurope, located in Vienna, willcover four distinct markets -Austria, Czech Republic,Slovakia and Hungary.The company says that they areall emerging markets with astrong potential of economicgrowth. In the four countriesthere are 2,500 companiesoperating in the plastics

processing sector using a total of3 million tonnes of plasticmaterials per year, which iscomparable to the Italianmarket.The company says that it willhave specific commercial andafter sales service in the fourcountries of interest involvinglocal personnel. The main officein Vienna will house generalmanagement.Contact:Piovan SpAWebsite: www.piovan.com

Piovan expands inCentral Europe