“Tultitlán is a key production
site for Coatings in North America, and the new Application
Centre labs further strengthen
this position,” said Frank Hezel, vice president, business management Coatings Solutions Mexico.
BASF strengthens
polyurethanes business in
North America with acquisition
of ITWC Inc.
BASF has acquired ITWC, Inc., based in
Malcom, Iowa. ITWC specializes in cast
elastomer polyurethane systems and polyester polyols. With more than 80 employees, including business management,
manufacturing, R&D, sales, and administrative functions, ITWC operates sites in
Malcom, Iowa, and Riverside, California.
BASF is acquiring the assets of ITWC, including those obtained during ITWC’s acquisition of Hydroseal Polymers Inc.,
Riverside, California, in November 2010.
“With this acquisition, BASF further so-
lidifies its position as a leading solutions
provider for polyurethane systems and en-
hances its global market position with cast
elastomer technology for a wide range of
industries,” said Raimar Jahn, president of
BASF’s Polyurethanes division. “ITWC has
a strong cast elastomers technology and
product portfolio, as well as an excellent
customer base and manufacturing capabil-
ities. We look forward to combining our
polyurethanes research and applications ex-
pertise with ITWC to expand our global
reach in the cast elastomers market.”
Cast elastomers are used in a wide range
of applications across many markets and
are known for their toughness and abrasion
resistance. Typical applications include in-
dustrial tires and rollers, recreational
wheels, transportation gears and pulleys,
processing equipment for construction,
sieves and scrapers, sealants and adhesives.
Jotun to supply hull coatings
to COSCO Container
Jotun COSCO Marine Coatings (
Qingdao) Co. Ltd. has formed an agreement to
supply coatings to drydocked COSCO
Container ships. Under terms of the agreement, Jotun will supply its Hull Performance Solution range, including
SeaQuantum X200 antifouling paint, and
a High Performance Guarantee, to a number of vessels scheduled for drydock in
2012 and 2013. The first vessel to be upgraded will be the 10,000 TEU COSCO
Europe scheduled for dry docking September 2012.
According to COSCO Container’s
deputy managing director, Hou Liping,
the agreement is consistent with COSCO
Container’s commitment to sustainable
development, part of which involves taking active steps to reduce green house
gas emissions.
“After extensive review we have concluded that hull performance can play a
very significant role in further reducing
our fuel cost and green house gas emissions,” said Liping. “Jotun’s Hull Performance Solutions combines a high
performance antifouling paint with a
credible method for measuring delivered
performance and a cash-back performance guarantee. This has enabled us to
embark on an ambitious investment program aimed at improving hull performance across our fleet.”
DuPont expands the DuPont
Japan Innovation Center to
focus on the automotive
industry
DuPont has expanded the DuPont Automotive Center (DAC) in Nagoya and renamed it the DuPont Japan Innovation
Center. The expansion and renaming reflects
the substantially broader capability of the
center to include other industries with remaining focus on the automotive industry.
The center in Nagoya has been serving customers in the automotive industry since 2005. The objective was to
better serve the automotive industry and
create new business through collaboration with key industry participants. In
the past six years, DAC hosted more
than 9,400 visitors and generated almost
370 new product innovations for automotive customers.
“Our center in Nagoya has been very
successful in serving our automotive customers, as well as customers in all of our
industries,” said Thomas Connelly, executive vice president and chief innovation officer. “This center served as a model that
we extended around the world. It provides
an interactive place for our scientists and
customers to create innovative solutions
that meet the needs of industry.”
Last year DuPont installed state-of-the-
art audio and video communication tech-
nology to connect the company’s global
technology resources live in customer
meetings in Nagoya, making DuPont’s
global technology resources instantly ac-
cessible to customers and partners in
Japan. Customers saw great value and
their feedback included benefits from the
collaborative, inclusive nature of working
with DuPont on science-based innovation
projects that addressed real performance
problems that they were having with ex-
isting materials and that collaborations
with DKK produced faster and sustain-
able new product solutions.
Learning from the automotive center’s
success, DuPont developed the concept of
an innovation center with a broadened
focus beyond the automotive industry to
multiple industries, such as agriculture,
food, packaging, electronic materials, alternative energy including solar and industrial biosciences. DuPont has seven
Innovation Centers around the world,
with five in Asia and two in Latin America. The company plans to expand the
concept around the world to collaborate
more closely with customers and partners.
Interpon shines at the Shard
inauguration
AkzoNobel showcased its Interpon powder coatings on the newly inaugurated
Shard tower in London. The Shard, a new
development in the London Bridge quarter is now the tallest building in Western
Europe. It uses coating protection from
eight different Interpon products applied
by approved applicators Josef Gartner
and Höfer (Germany) and SAS International (UK). Interpon D1036 and Interpon
810 coatings are protecting and decorating the interior ceiling panels, while products from the Interpon D2525 range offer
protection to the exterior aluminium
structure. Interpon D is a range of sustainable powder coatings developed
specifically for the architectural and construction industry. The Interpon D range
has been used on a wide range of iconic,
