markets and ultimately the progress of local
customers. Our objective is to grow with
our customers,” Margevich continued.
Boxing’s product portfolio will complement AkzoNobel’s amines product
lines, which include Arquad, Ethoquad,
Armid, Armeen, Armosoft, Redicote,
Berol, Aromox, Duomeen, Triameen,
Armac, Duomac and Ethomeen.
BASF to build 300,000 MT TDI
production plant in
Ludwigshafen
BASF has plans to build a single-train
300,000 metric tons per year production
plant for TDI (toluene diisocyanate) and
expand additional plants for its precursors
at its site in Ludwigshafen, Germany.
These include the construction of a new
hydrogen chloride recycling plant as well
as the expansion of plants for nitric acid,
chlorine and synthesis gas. It is also
planned to expand the aromatics complex
at the site for the supply of toluene. Total
investment including the required infrastructure at Ludwigshafen site will be approximately €1 billion and create
approximately 200 additional jobs. Production will start at the end of 2014.
BASF plans to close down its 80,000 metric tons per year TDI production plant in
Schwarzheide, Germany, when the new
plant goes on stream. TDI is a key component mainly used for flexible
polyurethane foams.
“This project will position us as the
low-cost TDI producer in Europe due to
economies of scale and the highly efficient
integration into our Verbund,” said Wayne
T. Smith, president of BASF’s
Polyurethanes division. “Building our new
TDI plant at our largest Verbund site in
Ludwigshafen gives us the advantage of the
excellent production synergies, raw mate-
rial integration and logistics. Together with
our existing TDI sites in Asia and North
America we will be able to optimally serve
customers in all major markets.”
At Schwarzheide, BASF will develop its
site structures according to the future needs
over the next years to focus more on spe-
cialties. With the investment BASF will have
two strong sites in Europe for polyurethane
basic products: Ludwigshafen for the pro-
duction of TDI and Antwerp for the pro-
duction of MDI (diphenylmethane diisocyanate) and propylene oxide.
Reichhold opens
manufacturing plant in China
Reichhold has launched its new manufacturing facility in Tianjin in northern
China. With 20 manufacturing sites and
five technology centers across the globe,
Reichhold has further strengthened its
presence in the global market with its
entry into this large and rapidly growing
market.
The facility is set up with a planned
annual production capacity of 38,000
MT but with a potential expansion to
60,000 MT. The plant will produce a full
Reichhold composites product line, including unsaturated polyester resins,
vinyl ester resins, gelcoats and bonding
pastes. The market applications will
cover wind power, high performance
anti-corrosion, marine, high-speed train,
industrial construction, electronics and
electrical industry.
Emerald begins construction of
production plant at Rotterdam
Emerald Kalama Chemical, a division of
Emerald Performance Materials, has
started the construction of a new operation to produce K-Flex non-phthalate
plasticizers and coalescents at its facility
in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The new
operation is scheduled to be commissioned during the third quarter of 2012.
Emerald Kalama Chemical acquired
the Rotterdam facility from DSM in December 2010. The Rotterdam manufacturing operations are certified to a number
of quality standards, including ISO-9001,
ISO-14001, HACCP, and FamiQS. The
new K-Flex line addition represents Emer-
Emerald Kalama Chemical's new site on the
port of Rotterdam.
ald’s first major investment designed to expand the range of
products at Rotterdam. The company also manufactures its K-Flex product line in the United States at
its Kalama, Wash. facility. Emerald previously announced the completion of a 25
percent capacity expansion and building
of a new technical center to support the
growth of its K-Flex products at the
Kalama site.
K- Flex glycol dibenzoate esters are
fast fusing, high polarity plasticizers for
a wide range of applications, such as
vinyl flooring, coatings, adhesives,
sealants and caulks.
Nuplex and KVIL to form joint
venture
Nuplex Industries announced that its European business, Nuplex Resins BV, has
signed a Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU) to establish a joint venture company (JV) with KVIL Group (KVIL), a
Russian paint and resins producer.
Initially, the 50: 50 JV will be responsible for the exclusive sales and marketing
of resins produced by KVIL and Nuplex.
The JV is expected to be formed during
the 2012 March quarter, at which time
Nuplex will invest € 3. 5 million mainly for
working capital.
The MOU also provides for the JV to
build a resins manufacturing site at Bel-gorod, Russia, within a period of two
years, subject to market conditions.
The cost of building a new site is estimated to be around € 20 million.
“As the Russian coatings market continues to grow, the joint venture with
KVIL will enable Nuplex to participate in
this growth,” said Nuplex’s chief executive officer, Emery Severin. “With a number of our large multi-national customers
expanding their Russian operations, the
JV provides us with the opportunity to
supply them and the growing local coating companies, with our high quality, European standard resins.
Entering into Russia through a joint
venture enables us to take a low risk approach to building our presence in this
emerging market. Together with our partner KVIL, a highly regarded local producer,
we will have the opportunity to build on-
