As We Go To Press
BASF APPOINTS TAINTURIER
PRESIDENT OF BASF CANADA
BASF has appointed Laurent Tainturier
as president of BASF Canada, effective
March 1, 2009. Laurent is administratively responsible for all businesses in
Canada, including crop protection, chemicals, plastics and performance products,
and plays a key role in continuing BASF’s
commitment to Responsible Care and its
initiatives. In addition, Tainturier manages BASF Canada’s internal business
support groups, such as communications.
Prior to this appointment, Tainturier
held various positions in the Elastogran
Group, the European subsidiary of BASF
polyurethanes, including sales and business management for Polyurethanes
Specialties in France; general management of the Group Company in Turkey,
and business management, polyurethanes insulation products for
Europe-Middle East-Africa at the
Elastogran headquarters in Lemförde,
Germany. Tainturier graduated from the
Institut des hautes études de droit rural
et d’économie Agricole(Institute of
Advanced Studies in Agricultural Law
and Economics) in Paris, France.
LYONDELLBASELL TO CLOSE
CHOCOLATE BAYOU OLEFINS
LyondellBasell Industries will permanently close its Chocolate Bayou olefins
complex near Alvin, TX, by Aug. 4, 2009.
The plant has been out of service since
mid-December and the company
announced on Feb. 12 plans to indefinitely idle the unit and began the process of
reducing the workforce at the site.
The company has taken this action
after analyzing the business case for preserving the site for future restart or permanent shutdown. The decision was
made given the reduced projections for
olefins demand, the limited feedstock
flexibility of the site, high fixed costs due
to scale and high costs related to the site
service agreements. Additionally, a significant expense would have been incurred
to fund a turnaround before a future
restart. LyondellBasell’s other six crackers in the U.S. will provide sufficient volumes to meet the need of the company’s
customers, the company said.
Equistar Chemicals, LP operated the
Chocolate Bayou olefins unit, located on
property leased to the company by
Solutia. Based on current market conditions and the uncompetitive financial situation as a result of the plant lease and
related agreements, LyondellBasell exercised an option under Chapter 11 to
reject the site lease and to permanently
shut down the unit. Those motions were
granted by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for
the Southern District of New York on
March 10. Equistar, along with Lyondell
Chemical Company and certain other
affiliates, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
protection on Jan. 6, 2009.
WATERBORNE, HIGHLY RESISTANT
COATINGS FOR PLASTICS
Bayer MaterialScience has developed
new radiation-curing polyurethane dispersions for coatings that can keep
products such as mobile phones, MP3
players and laptopss clean and looking
like new for much longer. As well as giving an improved and longer lasting finish to hand-held devices, the new coatings are free of solvents and are extremely efficient to apply. “With these raw
materials, we will now be able to emulate the success story we are experiencing with Bayhydrol UV in wood and furniture coating in the plastics coating
market,” said Jan Weikard from Bayer
MaterialScience. In the wood and furniture sector, waterborne UV coatings are
reaching the world’s highest growth
rates, mainly due to the fact that they
are both environmentally friendly and
cost-effective.
With Bayhydrol UV XP 2689, Bayer
MaterialScience has succeeded in
making a breakthrough with regard to
the resistance properties of waterborne products. “The extremely highly
crosslinked molecular structures created through curing by UV radiation
enable the outstanding resistance to
hydrolysis and cosmetics,” said
Weikard. Suitably formulated coatings
are not only hard, they are also scratch
and abrasion-resistant. The dispersions are ideal for application as clear
coats to plastics for leveling out any
surface roughness of the basecoat,
thereby ensuring a very glossy finish.
In addition, they can be used as one-coat systems to produce an opaque
metallic effect.
With the second new binder,
Bayhydrol UV XP 2736, coatings can be
formulated for application to plastic film,
fabric and other flexible substrates,
where they offer excellent adhesion and
mechanical resistance. In particular, XP
2736 can also be used in combination
with other UV-curing dispersions to
increase the flexibility and elasticity of
the resultant coating.
ARVINMERITOR INTRODUCES
PLATINUMSHIELD COATING ON OE
TRUCK AND TRAILER BRAKE SHOES
ArvinMeritor Inc. announced that
PlatinumShield coating will be a standard feature on the OE Meritor Q Plus
LX 500 brake package for truck applications and optional on Q Plus equipped
trailer axles, beginning September 2009.
This is the first application of
PlatinumShield to an original equipment
(OE) truck and trailer brake shoe.
The PlatinumShield coating was
developed by ArvinMeritor brake engineering to resist micro-abrasion caused
by the movement of the brake lining
against the shoe table during normal use.
Rust-jacking occurs when rust forms on
bare shoe metal under the lining, causing
the lining to lift and crack.
Providing PlatinumShield coated
shoes—on the Meritor Q Plus LX500
extended-lube brake package for trucks
and optional on the Q Plus equipped
trailer axles—will expand the company’s
offering to help North American truck
operators reduced their brake maintenance needs. CW
