NEWS Taro Plast buys in US


Italian compounding company Taro Plast is to acquire Michigan, US-based Delta Polymers and its Amplas Compounding division. “This acquisition is in line with our strategy of estab- lishing our footprint in the US market to better serve our global customers,” said


Taro Plast Managing Director Andrea Squeri. “Furthermore, requests from the US market for our recently enhanced product portfolio have increased and we are glad to benefit from the experience of the Delta Polymer team.” It is the second major acquisition for Taro Plast in


recent months. It acquired Celanese’s thermoplastic co-polyester (TPC) and polyester hotmelt business in November last year. That deal included the Ferrara Donegani production plant in Italy and all related assets, including the Pibiflex and Riteflex brands. �www.taroplast.com


TPU is widely used in


phone cases, where China is the leading producer


Nova goes circular in PE resins


Covestro to build TPU site in China


Covestro has announced plans to build its largest TPU production site to date at Zhuhai in Guangdong province in south east China. Located in the Zhuhai


Gaolan Port Economic Development Zone, the new facility will be built in three phases and eventually cover 45,000m². It is planned for


startup in 2033 and will have a production capacity of around 120,000 tonnes/yr. Covestro CCO Sucheta Govil said: “With this new plant for TPU we want to capture the expected fast and high market growth of the TPU market globally, and especially in Asia and China. The production site


will be able to serve both the growing Asian markets, as well as demand in Europe and North America.” The new production facility will also include an Innovation Centre, where it will have an on-site R&D team to develop custom products. �www.covestro.com


Canada’s Nova Chemicals has established Nova Circular Solutions, a new business line focused on lower-emission, recycled solutions. It will be home to the company’s Syndigo portfolio of rPE products. Designed to support demands for recycled content and decarbonisa- tion, commercially available Syndigo rPE grades include EX-PCR-WR3 resin sourced from agricultural films, EX-PCR-NC4 resin sourced from back-of-store stretch wrap, and EX-PCR-HD5 resin sourced from HDPE milk containers. All three are mechanically recycled. “[The] announcement underscores Nova’s commitment to be a leader in sustainable polyethyl- ene production,” said John Thayer, Nova Chemicals Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “We are investing time, resourc- es, and world-class technical knowledge into this new line of business and the Syndigo brand.” �www.novachem.com


Venator may axe sites; Chemours results flat


Titanium dioxide and specialty chemicals group Venator announced 2022 sales of $2.17bn, down by 1.7% on 2021, and adjusted EBITDA of $53m, down by 70% on weak H2 demand and high energy costs. The company is initiating a €50m cost saving programme and in-depth strategic review of its business. This could include the permanent closure


www.compoundingworld.com


of its 50,000 tonnes/yr TiO2 plant at Duisburg in Germany, where produc- tion is currently suspended, and the potential closure of its 80,000 tonnes/ yr site at Scarlino in Italy, which is currently running at one third capacity due to storage limitations. n Chemours posted a 7% sales increase to $6.8bn for 2022 and an adjusted EBITDA gain of 4% to


$1.36bn. Sales in the Titanium Tech- nologies segment, however, were flat at $3.4 bn and adjusted EBITDA down by 25% to $601m. The company attributes the weaker performance to a decrease in sales volumes, higher ore costs, and higher raw material and energy costs. �www.venatorcorp.com �www.chemours.com


March 2023 | COMPOUNDING WORLD 5


IMAGE: COVESTRO


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