its signature Kephos process at
the new facility, which was developed for performance racing
applications as a replacement
for black oxide and anodizing. Kephos
attributes include superior abrasion resistance and corrosion resistance, achieving up to 192 hours salt spray resistance
per ASTM B-117 when applied at a one-half micron coating thickness, the company said. Founded in 1979 and
headquartered in Indianapolis, IN, Keco
Coatings specializes in custom services
such as research and development prototype and distinct production categories. It is one of 22 DuPont Telflon
licensed industrial applicators (LIAs) in
the U.S. Industries Keco serves include
aerospace, lighting, packaging, food,
glass, automation, transportation, filtration, pharmaceutical and performance
racing. The range of technologies KECO
offers include a full line of signature
products, with applications of
non‐stick liquids and powders, conductive non-stick, dry film lube, ceramic,
corrosion resistant, plasma, thermal barrier and Kephos.
MicroBlend enters
Latin America
MicroBlend Inc. has entered the Latin
American market with the installation of
its paint dispensing systems in Sodimac
stores in Colombia. Sodimac is the leading home improvement retailer in Latin
America. They currently have 100 large
format locations in Colombia, Chile, Argentina and Peru and expansion continues throughout Latin America. The
MicroBlend partnership strengthens Sodimac’s leadership in the architectural paint
market. Sodimac pioneered the use of
captive brands in paint retailing in Latin
American with the introduction of Glam
Kolor brand paints initially in their
Chilean locations. MicroBlend has installed the latest version of its patented
Paint Factory system, introducing the
paint industry and the Sodimac stores to
several new innovations to its technologies. The latest version of the Paint Factory system provides higher dispense
capacity. Orders from one quart to 1500
gallons can be made quickly without spe-
cial advance ordering or planning. Sodimac has expanded the Glam Kolor brand
choices in quality levels to three, doubled
the number of sheens available and now
offer over 50,000 new colors.
Tikkurila completes the
divestment of its powder
coatings business
Tikkurila has completed the selling of its
powder coatings business. All shares in
Tikkurila Powder Coatings, a Russian
industrial coatings company, were trans-
ferred to Teknos Group Oy on January
26, 2011. The sales and purchase agree-
ment was signed in December 2010, and
an approval for the transaction has been
received from the competition authori-
ties. Tikkurila divested its industrial
powder coatings business, because it is
not a part of Tikkurila’s core business.
After the transaction, Tikkurila has no
powder coatings related operations. The
revenue of the sold company was €2.4
million in 2010, and it employs approx-
imately 50 people. The transaction does
not have a significant impact on the fi-
nancial result or balance sheet of the
Tikkurila Group, according to the com-
pany. Tikkurila is the leading decorative
paints company in Russia, where it op-
erates four paint factories after the trans-
action. The products are sold under the
brands of Tikkurila, Teks, Finncolor and
Gamma in over 5,000 retail outlets.
Tikkurila has approximately 1,500 em-
ployees in Russia.
AkzoNobel’s powder prices
surge in Europe
AkzoNobel Powder Coatings Europe
West will increase prices between 8. 5 and
19 percent. This rise is in response to
continued shortages in raw material supplies and the associated increase in raw
material costs. Gordon MacLeman, managing director of Powder Coatings Europe West said since the beginning of last
year industry began witnessing strong increases in the price of a broad range of
raw materials used in the production of
powder coatings.
“During the last couple of months
this situation has dramatically deteriorated in a manner which could not be
foreseen,” he said. “Depending upon the
technology base of the product, the raw
materials prices have increased by be-
tween 20 and 70 percent. This is not ex-
pected to improve as demand in rapidly
developing economies increases. This is
an unprecedented situation in Europe,
and many powder coatings companies
are experiencing difficulty in maintain-
ing full supply. AkzoNobel Powder
Coatings enjoys a strong global position
which has so far enabled the consistent
supply of product but even we are now
beginning to face real problems with the
availability of raw materials.”
AkzoNobel Powder Coatings has
worked hard over the last two years to ag-
gressively attack its own cost base, ac-
cording to MacLeman, which has resulted
in radical restructuring. Over the last 18
months the firm has downsized a number
of factories and has closed two produc-
tion units, as well as taking significant job
losses in the non-manufacturing part of
the business.
“While we will continue to save cost
in all business areas we have no choice
but to recover some of the many raw material increases,” he said. “Unfortunately
we believe we will see continued shortages and raw material price increases for
a number of years to come. We must act
now to protect our customers’ supplies
and to ensure the survival of our company and the industry.”
BASF relocates polyurethane
systems business unit
BASF is moving the manufacturing of its
offshore subsea insulation PUR systems to
Houston, Texas. The move brings BASF
closer to its Gulf Coast subsea insulation
customers, reduces delivery times and im-
proves upon technical service and cus-
tomer responsiveness. “Making a capital
investment in the Gulf Coast customer
base is a critical step toward implement-
ing our strategy of sustainable customer
success,” said Jim Lausch, manufacturing
director for BASF Polyurethane Solutions.
BASF Polyurethane Systems are used in a
variety of mercury-free solutions supplied
to the offshore industry, including subsea
thermal insulation, structural elastomers,
pipe pigs and rigid foam.
