Germany: Clariant – organic pigments.

Clariant recently completed a €3.8 Mproject to improve process efficiencyat its high-performance organicpigments facilities on the Frankfurt-Hoechst site. The company installednew drying equipment designed to cutdown on process times and to reducepigment drying costs by 20%. InAugust 2002, Clariant achieved a newmonthly output record for high-performance pigments – 272 tonnes,mostly pinks and violets.

Chemische Rundschau, 20 Sep 2002, 55 (18), 2 (inGerman)

India: Travancore Titanium Products –rutile TiO2 pigment

By mid-November 2002, the value ofTiO2 pigment inventories belonging toTravancore Titanium Products Ltd(TTP) had accumulated to Rup 260 M(or $5.4 M). This is equivalent to morethan 70 days’ worth of sales.

TTP’s position in the Indian homemarket has suffered as a result ofcompetition from Chinese suppliers,who are currently offering anatasegrades at Rup 62 (or $1.29) per kilo.TTP’s price for anatase TiO2 sold onthe Indian market is currently Rup 87(or $1.81) per kilo. This includes Rup18 (or $0.375) per kilo sales tax, paidto the Kerala State Industrial ProductsTrading Co (KSIP). For the privatelyowned suppliers, sales tax is levied atonly Rup 10.2 (or $0.21) per kilo.

As part of the strategy to improveprofitability, TTP has begun makingrutile-grade TiO2 pigments, whichcommand a higher price. Its first everrutile-grade pigment, designated TTP-RD-01, was launched recently and thecompany is now producing just under5000 tonnes/y of this product. Ifwarranted by market demand, TTPwill double production of its rutile-grade pigment. The company has alsobegun a vigorous export campaign foranatase pigments, with sales to theUS, the UK, Ecuador and Singapore.

TTP is still considering a Rup 1.1bn investment to substantially reduceenvironmental damage arising fromwaste effluents, but this project isunlikely to be implemented whilepigment prices and profit margins areso low.

Business Line, 24 Nov 2002, 9 (324), 2 & ChemicalWeekly, 26 Nov 2002, 48 (14), 102

Mozambique: WMC – TiO2 feedstock

WMC Resources (formerly WesternMining Corp) has taken control of theCorridor Sands project, fully buyingout Southern Mining’s interests. Thetotal mineral resource here has beenestimated at 10.56 bn tonnes,containing 324 M tonnes of ilmenite.Southern Mining had proposedinvesting $364 M in a project toestablish an ilmenite smelter atMaputo, with a capacity of 375,000tonnes/y of high-grade TiO2 slag and195,000 tonnes/y of pig iron. At a laterstage, the facilities could beexpanded, eventually producing up to1 M tonnes/y of TiO2 slag by themiddle of the next decade. TheIndustrial Development Corp of SouthAfrica (IDC) retains a 10% stake inthe Corridor Sands project.

TiO2 Worldwide Update, Nov/Dec 2002, 10 (5/6), 13-14

Russia: Plast Reif – kaolin

JSC Plast Reif produced 36,000tonnes of kaolin concentrates – 20%above nameplate capacity – at itsPlast City complex in 2002. Thecompany is now planning to add asecond concentrator, which shoulddouble nameplate capacity here.

Industrial Minerals, Jan 2003, (424), 53

Sweden: Svenska Kaolin – kaolin

Svenska Kaolin, formerly part of theTricorona group, was floated off as aseparate entity listed on theGothenburg Stock Exchange onwardsfrom October 2001. Its sole objectiveis to mine the kaolin depositdiscovered by Tricorona at Billinge,near Eslöv, in southern Sweden.However, proposals to mine 200,000-500,000 tonnes/y of kaolin at Billinge,were rejected by the VäxjöEnvironmental Court in 2001. Morerecently, this decision was upheld bythe Environmental Appeals Court.Svenska Kaolin is now consideringformulating a new set of miningproposals.

Dagens Industri, 4 Dec 2002, 27 (272), 37 (in Swedish)

United Kingdom: EWI – carbon blackfrom scrap tyres

Environmental Waste International Inc(EWI, of Ajax, Ontario, Canada)

recently announced winning the firstever commercial contract for itsreverse polymerisation tyreprocessing technology. The purchaseris an unidentified private UK companyand the plant – EWI’s TR3000 model– will be built in the UK. The totalvalue of the contract, which includestechnology, design, engineering andinstallation, is in excess of $10 M. Adeposit of more than $1 M has alreadybeen paid to EWI. Work on the planthas already begun and it should beready for operation in mid-2004.

The EWI process involves the useof microwave energy to break downscrap tyres into separate components.A typical car tyre, weighing 20pounds, is converted to 7.5 pounds ofcarbon black and 2 pounds of steel.The oil and gaseous hydrocarbonproducts can be used as fuel to meetthe needs of the recycling plant, withthe excess electricity being sold to theNational Grid.

Press release from: Environmental Waste InternationalInc, 283 Station Street, Ajax, ON L1S 1S3, Canada.Website: http://www.ewmc.com (15 Jan 2002)

Ukraine: Krym Titan – sulfuric acid &TiO2 pigment

Krym Titan is spending $20 M tooverhaul and upgrade its sulfuric acidfacilities at the Armyansk site. Acidcapacity will be raised from 300,000tonnes/y to 550,000 tonnes/y.

A substantial proportion of thesulfuric acid produced here is usedcaptively at the sulfate route TiO2plant, which has a nameplate capacityof 80,000 tonnes/y. It is possible thatthe expansion in acid capacity willincrease the feasibility of raising TiO2pigment production

Sulphur, Nov-Dec 2002, (283), 11

US: Hudson Color – plastics colorants

Hudson Color Concentrates Inc plansto virtually treble its capacity when itmoves to a new production site atLeominster, MA.

Plastics News, 21 Jan 2003 (Website:http://www.plasticsnews.com)

US & Netherlands: Kerr-McGee – TiO2pigment & feedstocks

Kerr-McGee is carrying out asignificant expansion programme in

6 JANUARY 2003

F O C U S O N P I G M E N T S