NEWS
BASF sets off China
Verbund BASF has officially opened the first production plant at its new Chinese “Verbund” integrated chemical facility at Zhanjiang in Guangdong. The engineering
plastics compounding unit has a capacity of 60,000 tonnes/yr and will produce material for Chinese customers in industries such as automotive and electronics, the company said. The Zhanjiang facility will be the company’s third Verbung site — the others include its headquarters operation at Ludwigshafen in Germany and its Antwerp production facility in Belgium. n Separately, BASF has announced that it can now offer users of some of its antioxidant and light stabiliser additives detailed Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) data within its Valeras portfolio. �
www.basf.com
Sirmax plans third US site
Above: Sirmax is planning further investment at its US location at Anderson in Indiana
Less than 10 years after establishing its first manu- facturing presence in the US, Italian compounder Sirmax is planning to build a third production plant. Sirmax opened its first US
production site at Anderson in Indiana in 2015 to produce polyolefin com- pounds. A second plant, configured for production of compounds from post industrial recycled PP and representing a $35m
investment, followed in 2020.
“In line with our multi- country and multi-product strategy, we are planning additional investments in the same property by 2025 in order to expand existing buildings and build a third plant,” according to North America Country Manager Lorenzo Ferro. The company says the unit will
third 12,000m2 open in 2025 and will
manufacture engineering plastic compounds. The expansion of its current facilities will allow it to take on TPE production and to increase capacity for recycled compounds. Sirmax operates 13
production plants world- wide: six in Italy; two each in India, Poland and the US; and one in Brazil. It gener- ated sales in 2021 of €480m. �
www.sirmax.com
Techmer PM secures more investment
US specialty compounder Techmer PM has received a majority investment from Gryphon Investors. The investment in Techmer is Gryphon’s fourth in the materials and chemicals sector. It has previously acquired Pacur, a producer of specialty plastic packaging materials for the medical device industry, and Vivify Specialty Chemicals, a supplier of specialty organic colorants, functional ingredients, and additives. “With our investment in Techmer PM, we are excited to partner with
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another leader in the advanced materials space,” said Craig Nikrant, Gryphon Operating Partner. “Techmer PM is at the forefront of delivering functional performance in some of the most critical and active areas of today’s economy, including weather resist- ance, light-weighting, and sustainable materials.” Founded in 1981 by John Manuck,
who remains an investor along with SK Capital and some of its management team, Techmer PM operates six production sites across North America
COMPOUNDING WORLD | September 2022
and focuses on high-performance applications in areas such as consumer goods, packaging, healthcare, and building products. CEO Mike McHenry will continue to
lead the company. “We have a number of commercial strategies to expand our offering,” he said. “We believe that Gryphon, alongside SK Capital, gives us additional operational and capital resources to help Techmer maximise its potential in enabling brand success for our customers.” �
www.techmerpm.com
www.compoundingworld.com
IMAGE: SIRMAX
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