ing demand from its customers.
The expansion includes new production facilities at the company’s Altamira, Mexico site, as
well as additional investments to improve
the productivity at its other titanium dioxide sites around the world.
The new line at the Altamira site is
scheduled for completion by year-end
2014 and will provide approximately
200,000 metric tons of new capacity per
year. Facility upgrades underway at
DuPont’s five titanium dioxide manufacturing sites will continue over the next
three years, yielding an additional
150,000 metric tons of capacity.
“This expansion and upgrades of our
facilities allow us to rapidly adapt to
changes in the marketplace and consis-
tently meet the ever-changing demands
of our customer base,” said DuPont Ti-
tanium Technologies (DTT) president BC
Chong. “Adding capacity at our Al-
tamira site in Mexico, as well as im-
proving our existing uptime and
production rates at all sites, is a vital
part of our strategy to help our cus-
tomers succeed. By increasing capacity,
we will ensure a sustainable supply for
customers and partners to help secure
their success in the marketplace.”
for numerous branches of industry, and it
emphasizes the unit’s applied know-how
in manufacturing and supply. The name
underlines the business unit’s association
with the Lanxess Advanced Intermediates
segment, which generated sales of over
€1.3 billion in fiscal 2010.
April 4, has been completed ahead of
schedule. At the same time, progress has
been made in restoring the external infrastructure. Merck expects the plant will
achieve its regular production output in
June.
The Onahama site is located 57 km
south of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi
nuclear power plant, and outside the evacuation zone. Merck is continually monitoring all public directives regarding
radiation levels in order to ensure the
safety of its employees. The company is
also testing the products being shipped
from Merck Japan to ensure that they
comply fully with all regulations and
safety standards.
Apart from Onahama, Merck will establish an alternative production site for
Xirallic effect pigments. It is planned to
have additional capacity for Xirallic pigments in Germany by the end of 2011.
This will boost future supply reliability
of Xirallic products as of 2012, the company said.
BASF opens dispersions plant
in South Africa
BASF has announced plans to invest in a
dispersions plant in Durban, South Africa.
The new plant will produce acrylic dispersions mainly for the coatings and construction industry. The facility will benefit
from local availability of raw materials
and proximity to key customers who serve
South Africa’s and Sub Saharan Africa’s
fast-growing markets. Production is
scheduled to begin in the second half of
2012. South Africa is the largest market
for dispersions in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Merck restarts operations at
Onahama production site for
automotive coatings
Merck KGaA has resumed normal operations at the Onahama production site in
Japan. Among other products, the Onahama site manufactures Xirallic effect pigments, which are widely used in
high-quality automotive coatings owing
to their pearl-luster effects.
The damage to the production units
and infrastructure caused by the catastrophic earthquake in northeastern Japan
on March 11 resulted in the stoppage of
pigment production in Onahama. The recovery and repair work, which began on
Dow Coating Materials
Launches eXposure Vision
Viewer
Dow Coating Materials (DCM) has
launched eXposure Vision Viewer, an online system that puts exposure station test
panels within easy view. The system
builds on DCM’s patented eXposure Vision digital imaging and analysis system.
Through a secured login website, eXposure Vision Viewer gives Dow customers
Waterborne Symposium issues a call for papers
New name for Lanxess Basic
Chemicals business unit
The Lanxess specialty chemicals company
has given its Basic Chemicals business unit
a new name: Advanced Industrial Intermediates (AII). The new name establishes
a direct link to the product portfolio,
which includes advanced intermediates
The School of Polymers and High Performance Materials at The University of Southern Mississippi has issued a call for papers for presentation at the 39th Annual International Waterborne Symposium, February 13-17, 2012 in New Orleans. Papers should relate to new and
emerging technologies related to materials, processes, production, characterization, application and markets in the field of surface coatings. All papers should be original and represent recent advances in coatings science and related disciplines. Title, abstract and author’s
names (speaker’s name underlined) should be submitted by mail, fax or e-mail no later than
Aug. 15 to
School of Polymers and High Performance Materials, The University of Southern Mississippi,
Box 10063, Hattiesburg, MS 39406-0063; (601) 266-4475; Fax: (601) 266-6265; E-mail: wa-terborne@usm.edu; Web: www.psrc.usm.edu/waterborne.
www.coatingsworld.com
June 2011
