clariant inaugurates new pigment facility to serve greater china

2
May 2012 Additives for Polymers 5 Owens Corning addresses upcoming EC regulations with glass fibre solution G lass fibre specialist Owens Corning has pioneered a new solution to help kitchen appliance and food processing equipment manu- facturers comply with impending European Commission (EC) regulations on glass fibre used in materials for food and drinking water contact. The company’s FoodContact range for rein- forced plastics is designed for use in consumer appliance and food manufacturing products such as kitchen utensils and kitchenware; coffee machines; food preparation equipment; ingredi- ent holding tanks; and drinking water systems. According to Owens Corning, the reinforcement was developed to perform optimally in high-temperature resins such as PPS and LCP as well as PPO, PA and polyester- based PBT and PET resins. It is available as chopped strand glass fibre reinforcement for use in thermoplastic resins. The company says that the FoodContact solution is the first product to market that meets the upcoming 2016 EC regu- lations for glass fibre sizing, chemical make-up and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP). ‘Developing an under- standing of the markets and regulations early has positioned us to help our customers reduce risk of disruption as they work to comply’, says Owens Corning composite solutions business director of global thermoplastics, Steve Zirkel. The GMP requirements will hold companies to a greater level of accountability across their entire supply chain but, with the FoodContact products, formulators and manufacturers ‘can be confident they are in compliance’ with the EC standards and delivering a high level of performance, he adds. Owens Corning explains that the FoodContact glass fibre solution was developed with consideration for the supply chain ‘to ensure a seamless transition from exist- ing reinforcements to these new compliant materials’. The company says that it collaborated with its thermoplastics customers, custom moulders, design firms and product OEMs to fully understand the performance requirements this product needed to meet. ‘Sharing our knowledge about the regulation and expertise in material science with our customers and supplying a quality product provides a competitive advantage for them’, continues Zirkel. ‘We want our customers to succeed and grow.’ The company says that its introduction of the FoodContact glass fibre solution demonstrates its ‘deep understanding of the latest food and drinking water safety regulations and how they affect the supply chain’. It also highlights Owens Corning’s commitment to the European market as it seeks to deliver high-performance materials that are safe and environ- mentally sound to make, use and dispose of. Contact: Owens Corning, Toledo, OH, USA. Tel: +1 419 248 8000, Web: www.owenscorning.com COMPANY STRATEGIES Clariant inaugurates new pigment facility to serve Greater China I n China, Clariant has inaugurated a new pigment preparations production plant in DaGang, in the city of Tianjin, to support the growing regional market. The facility, which came on stream at the end of 2011, is a joint venture between Clariant and Tianjin Bohai Chemical Industry Co with a total investment of CNY120 million (ca. E14.9 million). In other news, Clariant recently started building its new innovation centre in Frankfurt, Germany. The DaGang plant, which employs state-of-the-art tech- nology, will produce pigment preparations in both liquid and solid forms for applications in the coating, plastics and printing industries, and for consumer products and industrial special applications. Located in the Bohai Fine Chemicals Industry Park, the new facility occupies an area of 13 000 m ² and is equipped with 16 production lines together with a warehouse, laboratories and office space. Clariant has an existing powder pigment plant in China, in Hangzhou [ADPO, January 2011], and the company says that the introduction of a further production site in the region will give customers access to an extended choice of products, as well as offering improved services with a shorter lead time for greater efficiency. Local blending and special packaging are also enabled by this latest investment, which ‘reinforces Clariant’s ongoing commitment’ to fulfil the needs of customers in China’s growing pigment and STRATEGIES

Post on 16-Sep-2016

216 views

Category:

Documents


2 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Clariant inaugurates new pigment facility to serve Greater China

May 2012 Additives for Polymers5

Owens Corning addresses upcoming EC regulations with glass fibre solution

Glass fibre specialist Owens Corning has pioneered a new solution to help kitchen

appliance and food processing equipment manu-facturers comply with impending European Commission (EC) regulations on glass fibre used in materials for food and drinking water contact. The company’s FoodContact™ range for rein-forced plastics is designed for use in consumer appliance and food manufacturing products such as kitchen utensils and kitchenware; coffee machines; food preparation equipment; ingredi-ent holding tanks; and drinking water systems.

According to Owens Corning, the reinforcement was developed to perform optimally in high-temperature resins such as PPS and LCP as well as PPO, PA and polyester-based PBT and PET resins. It is available as chopped strand glass fibre reinforcement for use in thermoplastic resins. The company says that the FoodContact solution is the first product to market that meets the upcoming 2016 EC regu-lations for glass fibre sizing, chemical make-up and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP). ‘Developing an under-standing of the markets and regulations early has positioned us to help our customers reduce risk of disruption as they work to comply’, says Owens Corning composite solutions business director of global thermoplastics, Steve Zirkel. The GMP requirements will hold companies to a greater level of accountability across their entire supply chain but, with the FoodContact products, formulators and manufacturers ‘can be confident they are in compliance’ with the EC standards and delivering a high level of performance, he adds.

Owens Corning explains that the FoodContact glass fibre solution was developed with consideration for the supply chain ‘to ensure a seamless transition from exist-ing reinforcements to these new compliant materials’. The company says that it collaborated with its thermoplastics customers, custom moulders, design firms and product OEMs to fully understand the performance requirements this product needed to meet. ‘Sharing our knowledge about the regulation and expertise in material science with our customers and supplying a quality product provides a competitive advantage for them’, continues Zirkel. ‘We want our customers to succeed and grow.’

The company says that its introduction of the FoodContact glass fibre solution demonstrates its ‘deep understanding of the latest food and drinking water safety regulations and how they affect the supply chain’. It also highlights Owens Corning’s commitment to the European market as it seeks to deliver high-performance materials that are safe and environ-mentally sound to make, use and dispose of.

Contact: Owens Corning, Toledo, OH, USA. Tel: +1 419 248 8000,

Web: www.owenscorning.com

COMPANY STRATEGIES

Clariant inaugurates new pigment facility to serve Greater China

In China, Clariant has inaugurated a new pigment preparations production plant in

DaGang, in the city of Tianjin, to support the growing regional market. The facility, which came on stream at the end of 2011, is a joint venture between Clariant and Tianjin Bohai Chemical Industry Co with a total investment of CNY120 million (ca. E14.9 million). In other news, Clariant recently started building its new innovation centre in Frankfurt, Germany.

The DaGang plant, which employs state-of-the-art tech-nology, will produce pigment preparations in both liquid and solid forms for applications in the coating, plastics and printing industries, and for consumer products and industrial special applications. Located in the Bohai Fine Chemicals Industry Park, the new facility occupies an area of 13 000 m² and is equipped with 16 production lines together with a warehouse, laboratories and office space.

Clariant has an existing powder pigment plant in China, in Hangzhou [ADPO, January 2011], and the company says that the introduction of a further production site in the region will give customers access to an extended choice of products, as well as offering improved services with a shorter lead time for greater efficiency. Local blending and special packaging are also enabled by this latest investment, which ‘reinforces Clariant’s ongoing commitment’ to fulfil the needs of customers in China’s growing pigment and

STRATEGIES

Page 2: Clariant inaugurates new pigment facility to serve Greater China

6Additives for Polymers May 2012

pigment preparations market for high-quality solutions, the company adds. ‘Investing in emerging markets is a key element of Clariant’s strategy and underlines our focus on extending its value proposition to growing markets. For our Business Unit Pigments this investment enhances our customer intimacy in the region and strengthens our posi-tion in the Chinese market’, further comments Christian Kohlpaintner, a member of Clariant’s executive committee.

The new plant in DaGang adds to Clariant’s exist-ing pigment production capabilities worldwide, with 12 pigment plants and 11 preparation plants across Europe, Asia and America. Clariant has invested CHF200 million (E166 million) in Greater China dur-ing the past five years.

Meanwhile in Europe, the cornerstone of Clariant’s new E100 million innovation centre has been officially laid during a ceremony at the Industriepark Höchst in Frankfurt, Germany. Over the next few months, the com-pany will build a facility of roughly 36 000 m2 that will provide jobs for some 500 researchers. The concept for the building, which aims to offer an optimal working environ-ment through its open architectural design, was developed by the Düsseldorf-based architectural firm of HPP.

‘Innovation is the foundation of the future, both for individual companies and society as a whole’, said Kohlpaintner, speaking at the ceremony. ‘I hope that the bright and transparent rooms will not only be the birthplace for new ideas that flourish and grow, but also provide the environment for an inspiring exchange

between our researchers and technicians, as well as with their partners in the fields of science and industry’, he added. He also emphasized Clariant’s targeted research policy and underscored that a major focus in the future will be on megatrends, such as functional materials, energy efficiency and renewable raw materials.

In future, Clariant’s global research activities will be cen-tred at the Höchst site, which will house application-specific laboratories and technical marketing functions for different business units. The new facility will also be the location of the New Business Development and Intellectual Property Management units as well as the Patent department. An objective of bringing together different disciplines is to enhance Clariant’s R&D pipeline and further improve the company’s innovation capabilities, it says.

Contact: Clariant International Ltd, Muttenz, Switzerland.

Tel: +41 61 469 6742, Web: www.clariant.com

Or contact: Tianjin Bohai Chemical Industry Co,

No. 8, Xuzhou Road, Heping District, Tianjin 300042,

China. Tel: +86 022 23130826, Fax: +86 022 23130816,

Email: [email protected], Web: www.tjbhgx.com/en/

Momentive Performance Materials expands manufacturing operations in India

Global silicones manufacturer Momentive Performance Materials Inc is expanding its

manufacturing facility and application develop-ment centre in Chennai, India. Spanning more than 15 acres, the state-of-the-art facility, which opened in 2009, focuses on manufacturing high-end spe-ciality silicones to serve the growing needs of cus-tomers in India, the Middle East and South Asia.

The expansion will bring ‘sophisticated technology and manufacturing processes’ that Momentive has developed worldwide to the Chennai facility and ‘considerably enhance our ability to serve customers across the region’, says V.P. Nalian, managing director, Momentive Performance Materials India. This will allow the commercialization of a number of the company’s speciality silicone branded products in the region, including its Niax additives for polyurethane foam, according to Momentive’s chief technol-ogy officer Eric Thaler. ‘This investment represents a major step forward in our ability to grow the silicones business in India’, adds CEO Craig O. Morrison. India is one of the world’s fastest growing regions for automotive, construction, telecom and energy. Chennai, in particular, is developing into a significant centre for multiple industries, he says.

The expansion of the Chennai facility, along with the opening of a regional HQ and global R&D centre in Bangalore later this year, is part of Momentive’s long-standing commitment to India and the surrounding regions. Additionally, the Chennai facility has been desig-nated to become a zero-discharge plant, underscoring the company’s commitment to sustainability. Local Momentive employees will participate in training programmes on run-ning the plant efficiently and in compliance with the high-est safety standards.

Contact: Momentive Performance Materials, Albany, NY, USA.

Tel: +1 607 786 8131, Web: www.momentive.com

STRATEGIES