news EPIC buy for Solvay
Solvay is to buy the long-fibre thermoplastics (LFT) technol- ogy of EPIC Polymers, a hitherto privately-owned supplier of high strength, tribologically optimised and conductive thermoplastics based in Kaiserslautern, Germany. Solvay said that the acquired
technology and business will complement its offering of high performance lightweighting materials – which typically replace metal in under-the- hood components such as hot air ducts, powertrains, engine control units, oil and water modules – and extend its metal replacement potential to larger automotive semi-structural parts.
“Having this technology is
an important step in the expansion of Solvay Specialty Polymers’ broad offering of materials that are simultane-
High performance gear
produced in a carbon fibre PA6,6 LFT from EPIC
ously light and ultra-perform- ing,” said Augusto Di Don- francesco, president of Solvay’s Specialty Polymers Global Business Unit. EPIC director and co-found-
er Fred Panhuizen, who will remain with the business, said the company saw growth double last year and expected to see that growth repeat this year, driven by accelerating
interest in lightweight technologies. “There is a lot of interest. Automotive is a large part but also in other indus- tries,” he said. Panhuizen said EPIC has
long used Solvay materials in its products and that the acquisition will provide it with back integration into important polymer streams. “We have had a very good relationship with them [Solvay] since our formation and they have always been more than just a supplier,” he said. Solvay plans to develop
expertise to apply LFT technology to its own core polymers including KetaSpire PEEK and AvaSpire PAEK. It will also be applied to the Amodel brand of PPA, Ryton PPS and Technyl PA6,6 range. ❙
www.solvay.com ❙
www.epicpolymers.com
Carolina Color to expand
Carolina Color Corporation, a privately-owned US-based maker of colour concen- trates, has announced plans to expand while staying within its long- standing location at Salisbury in North Carolina. The company has
acquired and will repurpose an old building behind the current plant, having recently removed an older, blighted home in the same area to make room for its new customer collaboration centre. Carolina Color has
capacity of about 11,300 tonnes/year across its sites at Salisbury and Delaware in Ohio. ❙
www.carolinacolor.com
BASF starts up Korean compounding plant
BASF has started up its new 36,000 tonnes/year plant for production of Ultramid PA and Ultradur PBT compounds at Yesan in South Korea’s Chung Nam province. The move doubles the company’s compounding capacity for engineering plastics in Korea and brings its overall com- pounding capacity in Asia to 222,000 tonnes/year. The new plant houses
BASF’s Yesan facility will produce Ultramid and Ultradur compounds
8 COMPOUNDING WORLD | November 2015
proprietary technologies similar to those used at other BASF compounding plants and will mainly serve the automo- tive, electrical and electronics industries in Korea and Japan.
BASF said it also intends to
open a new engineering plastics product development laboratory at its site at Ansan in Gyeonggi province in Q2 2016. The company said the Korean engineering plastics market is expected to grow at 6%/year in the near future. l BASF reported a 5% decline in sales to €17.4bn for the third quarter, which it attributed to weaker than expected market conditions. The Functional Materials division, which includes engineering plastics,
saw sales remain stable at €4.5bn. ❙
www.basf.com
www.compoundingworld.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92
