MATERIALS | PLASTICISERS
portfolio with a special focus on development of bio-based and renewable products. The Oxoplast specialty plasticiser business unit, in particular, is expected to benefit from the extended capabilities. Budner says the company is also focused on
regional diversification. Two years ago it established storage capacity on the east coast of the US for 2-Ethylhexanol to serve its customers in the North American market. In 2022 it rented a second strorage tank and now has capacity of 2,500 tonnes for 2- Ethylhexanol alcohol and 1,500 tons for Oxoviflex b plasticiser. He says the longer term goal is to deploy several thousand tons of both products annually in the US market. “Without a doubt, we are operating in a difficult
Above: Elatur TM is the latest addition to the Evonik Oxeno plasticiser portfolio, pitched at high temperature cable and automotive applications
phthalate product in 2011 and gradually expand- ing its offering which, since 2020, has been marketed under the Oxoplast name. “We definitely don’t miss phthalates. Discontinu- ing their production was a measure that the com- pany consciously took in view of the regulations coming into force back then, which continue to have a significant impact on the nature of the market,” says Maciej Budner, who heads up the Oxoplast Business Unit. “We are well aware that the path that Europe and the entire world are following, and will continue to follow, involves further restrictions on orthophthalates. So it was a natural course of action for us to set up a large plant for the production of DOTP [non-orthophthalate plasticiser].” Last year, the company opened a second R&D
centre at Kędzierzyn-Koźle in Poland. The 1,900m2 facility represents an investment of around €8.7m and includes 10 research labs. The company says it will focus on extending its specialty product
time, and being able to allocate volumes across logistics centers in different parts of the world is crucial to keep production and business manage- ment flowing,” Budner says. “While the operations we are undertaking are ambitious, given the oppor- tunities offered by the US market, there is clearly much to strive for.”
Business challenges Like all businesses, Grupa Azoty has also had to make operational changes to deal with the impacts of the Covid pandemic and, more recently, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “In recent years, we have experienced a demand and price boom, largely fueled by the Covid-19 pandemic,” Budner says. “Purchasing capacity and demand for products, largely the ones for which our products are used, have increased. Consequently, Segment Oxoplast recorded peak results in 2021. Foreseeing what 2022 would look like, we predicted a slowdown
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IMAGE: EVONIK
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