NEWS India’s Chini to invest in PLA


Indian sugar producer Balrampur Chini Mills is to invest INR20bn (around €225m) to build an integrated plant for production of polylactic acid (PLA) bioplastics. It claims the 75,000 tonnes/yr plant will be the country’s first industrial scale bioplastics production capability when it starts production in 2027. The company has not confirmed a


location for the new facility but says it will be built on a greenfield site along- side one of its existing 10 sugar plants — it has a sugar cane crushing capacity of 80,000 tonnes a day — where it can take advantage of existing local infrastructure. “We see the utilisation of sugar as a


raw material in PLA production as pivotal for a sustainable future,” said the company’s Executive Director Avantika Saraogi. The company has appointed Stefan


Barot to the role of President (Chemi- cals). He has more than 35-years in the global chemical and bioplastics industries including time at BASF, Purac and Biotec Biologische Naturverpack- ungen. It says it will also be drawing on the expertise of Konkan Speciality Polyproducts (Konspec), a producer of specialty polymers, biopolymers, intermediaries, and chemicals in which it has a minority financial stake. �www.chini.com


Celanese sales up on DuPont acquisition but demand weak


Celanese announced full year 2023 sales of $10.9bn, up by 13% on 2022 due to a 23% increase in volumes resulting from the compa- ny’s acquisition of the former DuPont Mobility & Materials (M&M) engineer- ing plastics business tempered by 10% price reductions. The M&M business (acquired in Q4 2022)


pushed sales for the Cela- nese Engineered Materials business up by 53% to $6.1bn. The company said, however, that the division faced challenging demand and competitive conditions throughout the year, which resulted in volume and pricing decreases. Excluding the M&M contribution, Celanese said the Engineered Materials


business unit’s volumes decreased by 8%. Celanese said it had


responded to these external challenges by focusing on factors it could control, including aligning inventory and production levels to demand, lowering inventory balances by $384m, and accelerating M&M post- acquisition synergy actions. �www.celanese.com


Sukano takes stake in KAYS


Swiss masterbatch maker Sukano has acquired a majority stake in KAYS, a Hungarian compounder specialising in production of engineering grades using recycled content. Sukano says the two com-


panies, which will continue to operate as separate entities, share a focus on


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sustainability and circularity and have complementary product lines. Sukano holds a strong position in packaging and has been expanding its business activities into consumer durables, construction, and health- care; KAYS primarily focuses on automotive, electronic


COMPOUNDING WORLD | March 2024


and electrical, and rail transport applications. “This complementary pairing combines strengths and capabilities, broaden- ing the scope of expertise and service the Sukano group can offer,” according to Sukano. �www.sukano.com � http://www.eng.kays.hu/


Venator cuts TiO2 capacity


Titanium dioxide (TiO2 )


producer Venator Materi- als is to shut down some production as part of its post-Chapter 11 transfor- mation plan. The company said it will


remove 50,000 tonnes of TiO2


production capacity at


the Duisburg facility and will relocate specialty pigment production to its site at Uerdingen. Duisburg will continue to produce functional additives. The 80,000 tonne/yr TiO2


plant


at Scarlino in Italy will remain offline. “We will strengthen our


TiO2


business through enhancing our product and supply offer to our customers as we recover margins through pricing,” said President and CEO Simon Turner. �www.venatorcorp.com


www.compoundingworld.com


IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK


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