BYK-Chemie GmbH
HEADQUARTERS:
BYK-Chemie GmbH
Abelstrasse 45
46483 Wesel, Germany
Phone: + 49 281 670-0
Fax: + 49 281 65735
Web: www.byk.com
E-mail: info@byk.com
USA/Canada/Mexico
BYK USA Inc.
524 South Cherry Street
Wallingford, CT 06492
Phone: 203-265-2086
COMPANY DESCRIPTION:
BYK Additives & Instruments is a globally operative,
branch-leading supplier of additives for coatings, inks, plastics and paper surfaces as well as instruments for the objective assessment of color, appearance and physical properties of coatings, plastics, and paper surfaces.
Over a period of many decades, BYK has repeatedly
introduced innovative products to the market, opening up
new perspectives for the effectiveness and potential uses of
additives and instruments.
Additives are chemical addition agents which are mixed
in tiny quantities with coatings, inks and plastics and
which serve to refine and finish paper surfaces. They
improve product properties such as the scratch resistance
and gloss of surfaces.
The first-ever BYK additive on the market was launched
in 1935 for coatings. This was when BYK developed their
ANTI-TERRA® product. It ensured that pigments in coatings could be evenly distributed – a significant quality
improvement for the manufacture of coatings.
The history of BYK itself dates from a full 60 years earlier. In 1873, Dr. Heinrich Byk
founded a chemicals factory in
Berlin under his own name, initially manufacturing sleeping
pills. In 1917, the company
merged with the Farb- und
Gerbstoffwerke (paint and tanning agent works) to form the
Byk-Guldenwerke AG; the
Ernst Lomberg photochemical
factory later being added to the
group.
In 1962, BYK established its Wesel works and
launched production of paint
and plastics additives there. As
a globally active specialty chemicals company, BYK also has
production plants in Kempen
(Germany), Deventer (the
Netherlands), Wallingford
(USA) and Tongling (China).
The BYK instruments section
(BYK-Gardner GmbH) is centered in Geretsried in Upper
Bavaria.
As one of the four business sectors within the ALTANA
Group, BYK Additives &
Instruments employs around 1,200 staff worldwide, more
than 600 of them in Wesel. In 2008, company turnover
amounted to EUR 450 million. Some 86% of that turnover
was earned abroad, especially in neighboring European
countries, the USA and the Asian market.
Innovative additive developments
In the late 1990s, BYK was the first additives manufacturer to begin successfully utilizing controlled polymerization
technology (CPT), thus allowing improved control of the fine
structures of additives. BYK has since developed several
CPT-based products which are internationally in demand.
www.byk.com
