6Additives for Polymers November 2009

Arkema building carbon nanotube pilot plant in France

Arkema has announced the construction of a carbon nanotube (CNT) pilot produc-

tion plant at its Mont site in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques region of France. The 400 tonnes/year plant is scheduled for start-up in 2011.

Arkema says it is putting in place a CNT-specific health, safety and environment initiative from the outset of the project ‘in keeping with the precautionary principle’ to ensure the protection of its employees, users and the envi-ronment. Its code of conduct is based on three principles: prevention, permanent knowledge acquisition and trans-parency with stakeholders, in accordance with the advice of the January 2009 French Public Health Council.

In 2003 Arkema launched a research project to study CNTs and their applications. In 2006 the company started up its first pilot laboratory at its Lacq facility capable of producing some 20 tonnes/year of CNTs, which have been sampled and promoted under the Graphistrength® trademark [ADPO, March 2006]. It has developed a range of CNT masterbatches that are easy to process within various thermoplastic, elas-tomer and, more recently, thermoset matrices. Arkema says this latest industrial investment will boost its standing among leading suppliers of new nanostructured materials.

Contact:Arkema, Colombes Cedex, France. Tel: +33 1 4900 8080,

Web: www.arkema.com

Merck acquires Chinese effect pigments manufacturer

Germany’s Merck KGaA has acquired Suzhou Taizhu Technology Development Co Ltd

(Taizhu), a leading Chinese supplier of effect pigments, for a total consideration of E28 mil-lion. Located in Taicang near Shanghai, Taizhu had total revenues of more than E14 million in 2008 and employs 300 staff. Merck says that the acquisition is of high strategic importance to its pigments business.

Within the scope of the transaction, Merck has acquired the production site of Taizhu in Taicang, 40 km from Shanghai, as well as the entire sales and marketing organiza-

tion in China and abroad. Klaus Bischoff, head of Merck’s Performance & Life Science Chemicals division, says that the transaction is ‘highly attractive’ for Merck because Taizhu’s products complement its portfolio of premium effect pig-ments ‘with a range that mainly serves the growing value-for-money market segment’. In addition, Taizhu’s customer base ideally complements Merck’s own, he says. ‘In recent years, Taizhu has built an outstanding reputation as a reliable source of high-quality effect pigments’, Bischoff comments.

Founded in 1988 as one of China’s first private com-panies, Taizhu is one of the biggest effect pigments companies in the Chinese market, and also ranks among the world’s largest manufacturers of these pigments, as does Merck. China is among the world’s fastest-growing markets and is forecast to become the second largest effect pigments market by 2010, behind the USA.

Merck Pigments claims to be one of the world’s leading suppliers of effect pigments for the coatings, plastics, printing, cosmetic, food and pharmaceutical industries. Applications range from cars to packaging and from high-tech products to building facades. In addition to decorative effect pigments, the company offers pigments that have functional applications such as heat-reflection or anti-counterfeiting.

Contact: Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. Tel: +49 6151 72 0,

Web: www.merck4pigments.com or www.merck.de

BASF aims to grow above market in Asia Pacific

Chemicals giant BASF SE has announced its ‘Asia Pacific Strategy 2020’. Through growth

and new business initiatives, the company says it aims to double sales in the region by 2020. Plans include an increase in headcount of at least 25% and significant investments in the next four years.

Between now and 2020, BASF aims to grow on average two percentage points faster than the Asia Pacific chemi-cal market each year. With expected market growth of 4–5% per year, this would double regional sales by 2020 while earning a premium on cost of capital, the company says. Under its new, ambitious strategy, BASF says it will initially target five key growth industries in the region, will increase headcount by at least 5000 from a current figure of about 15 000, and generate 70% of regional

STRATEGIES