Latin America
by Charles W. Thurston
Latin America Correspondent
thurstoncw@rodmanmedia.com
ChemSpec Ltd.’s recent announcement hat it would set up its first Mexico subsidiary makes good on the company vow at the time of its 75 percent equity acquisition in 2015 that it was looking
for expansion opportunities in the region.
CHEMSPEC MEXICO will be based in
Mexico City, and will
provide sales and technical support to the rubber
compounding industry
and also support the other Mexican Coatings,
Adhesives, Sealants,
Elastomer, and Plastics
(CASE) market segments.
ChemSpec México will offer “a large portion
of its current Performance Products’ portfolio
of specialty and commodity chemical additives
and specialty polymers,” across the country, the
company announced. The automotive sector, in
particular, is likely the largest consumer of the
company’s products.
Mexico’s auto industry is booming.
Hyundai subsidiary Kia Motors most recently
opened a new production facility in Mexico, in
September, in Pesquería, state of Nuevo Léon,
with an investment by the company and dedicated suppliers estimated $3 billion.
On the Mexico announcement, ChemSpec
president Dave Moreland said, “Over the
past several years, many manufacturing
companies of various sorts have opened-up
production locations in regions throughout
northern and central Mexico, and in turn,
more and more of our customers have asked
us to support their Mexican operations. I
think by creating a Mexican business en-
tity, which allows us more flexibility logis-
tically, while also having employees ‘on the
ground,’ better enables ChemSpec to sup-
port our Mexico-based customers, and at
the same time, will help continue to grow
our business.”
U.S. exports of paints and coatings to
Mexico grew an estimated six percent in 2015
to 22 percent of all U.S. paint exports, according
to a recent report by Research and Markets. A
host of specialty coating are used in the Mexico
automotive industry. Another recent study by
the Center for the Polyurethanes Industry (CPI)
of the American Chemistry Council, shows that
overall production of polyurethane in Mexico
increased at an average annual rate of 9. 6 per-
cent over the past two years, partly due to in-
creased domestic demand.
Similarly, elastomeric coatings demand by
the automotive and industrial industries has
risen in Mexico for body corrosion control
and self-healing applications. And “Superior
performance of e-coats (coating plus plating),
compliance to environmental regulations, low
cost, and growth in the end-use industries such
as automotive and appliances are expected to
drive the e-coat market,” Markets and Markets
recently reported.
Safic-Alcan, a Paris-based specialty chemicals distributor, acquired a majority control
of Uniontown, Ohio-based ChemSpec Ltd. to
expand in the Americas. In Mexico, Chemspec
serves the rubber, adhesives and sealants markets in the automotive, paint and coatings
and construction markets, among others. At
the time of the acquisition, ChemSpec earned
$41 million, compared with Safic-Alcan, which
earned $445 million.
This acquisition was unrelated to the Axalta
Coating Systems acquisition of ChemSpec USA,
which also took place late last year. CW
ChemSpec
México’s will offer
a large portion
of its specialty
and commodity
additives
and specialty
polymers across
the country. The
automotive sector,
in particular, is
likely the largest
consumer of
the company’s
products.
ChemSpec Ltd. to Add
Specialties Access in Mexico
