news Binani buys fibreglass maker 3B


Binani industries of india has acquired 3B The Fibreglass company from platinum Equity for E275 million. Headquartered in Battice, Belgium, 3B was formed in 2008 when platinum Equity acquired two fibreglass manufacturing plants that owens corning sold to meet Eu competition rulings when it acquired Vetrotex.


The plants in Belgium and


norway have a total capacity of 150,000 tonnes/year. 3B plans to add a new facility in Tunisia in 2013 that will increase this total to more than 200,000 tonnes/year. in 2009, 3B was reposi-


tioned to focus on the thermo- plastics compounding and wind energy markets. Approximately


oxea builds first plant in china


oxea is building a chemical plant for the production of oxo derivatives in nanjing, china. Scheduled to come on-stream in 2013, it will be the german-headquartered company’s first plant in china. last year, oxea launched


the oxsoft range of phthalate-free and non-Voc plasticizers based on its raw materials such as 2- ethylhexanol and 2- ethylhexanoic acid. The plasticizers will be among the first products made at the new plant. ❙ www.oxea-chemicals.com


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90% of its customers are in Europe. it has 650 employees


and its net sales in 2010 were E159 million. Binani industries is a


leading indian business house with global interests in cement, zinc, glass fibre, composites and ready-mix concrete. it owns goa glass Fibre, which is based in india and has a capacity of 20,000 tonnes/year. in January last year, Binani signed a merger agreement with uS-based composite products inc (cpi) which carries out in-line compound- ing and moulding of long- glass-fibre-reinforced thermoplastic composites. Binani also owns BT compos- ites, an indian manufacturer of


robust presence in this [fibreglass] niche segment and we are working to accelerate our fibreglass operations further over the coming years. 3B is therefore a perfect match”.


Hugues Jacquemin says that the acquisition gives 3B “a truly global presence”


products using sheet- moulding and dough-moulding compounds (Smc and dmc). Braj Binani, chairman of


Binani industries, said: “we are among one of the few group globally that has a


Hugues Jacquemin, cEo of 3B, added: “with the acquisi- tion by Binani industries, we will be able to ensure a truly global presence.” According to a statement


issued by the Binani group, global fibreglass demand is set to grow at an average of 8.2% (cAgr) to 2014. in Europe, the automotive market for fibreglass is forecast to grow at 6% per year, with wind energy demand growing at 15%. ❙ www.binaniindustries.com ❙ www.3b-fibreglass.com


lanxess adds capacity in india


lanxess has started up its new engineering plastics com- pounding plant at its Jhagadia site in gujarat, india. it has invested €10 million


in the facility which has the capacity to make 20,000 tonnes/year of durethan pA and pocan pBT compounds. Around 60 new jobs have been created as a result of the investment. The compounding facility currently houses one line, but there is space to add additional extruders if needed. The automotive sector is


the largest market for the high-tech plastics produced at the plant and lanxess says that they are used by leading car makers, including Tata motors, Vw and Ford. The Jhagadia site is well


compounding world | February 2012


positioned to serve Thane, near mumbai, which is a major automotive production centre. lanxess has recently opened new head offices in Thane. The output from the plant


will primarily be for the indian market, but it will also serve other Asian countries. lanxess also compounds pA and pBT at its wuxi site in china.


l lanxess showcased its engineering plastics at the plastindia exhibition in new delhi on 1-6 February. on the first day of the event, its booth was visited by K Jose cyriac, secretary of the indian government’s department of chemicals and petrochemicals (pictured above). ❙ www.lanxess.com


www.compoundingworld.com


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