Venator to shut down Duisburg TiO 2 site
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Altana grows in pigments German speciality chemicals group Altana has agreed to acquire the Silberline Group for its Eckart division . Based in Tamaqua , Pennsylvania , Silberline employs over 450 and had sales of about $ 80 million in 2022 . It makes effect pigments for applications ranging from automotive coatings and printing inks to plastics , protective coatings and packaged consumer goods .
Wacker specialities plant Wacker Chemie is to invest a “ low triple-digit million euro ” sum on a 20,000 tonnes / year facility at Karlovy Vary , Czech Republic . This will mainly make speciality room-temperaturevulcanising silicones at first , with high-temperature-vulcanising silicone compounds coming later . The polymers , fillers and additives will come from the main site in Burghausen . The new site is due onstream at the start of 2025 and will create up to 20 jobs .
WuXi triples peptides WuXi AppTec has commissioned new peptide plants at its Changzhou and Taixing sites in China . Both use digital operation systems with automated solvent delivery , in order to optimise production consistency , minimise human errors and reduce production cycle time . This investment will increase the company ’ s total solid-phase peptide synthesis reactor volume to 32,000 litres .
Venator to shut down Duisburg TiO 2 site
TiO 2 producer Venator Materials has completed a strategic review following its emergence from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October and intends to implement a transformation plan , which has the support of its new shareholders . Among other things , this will see 130,000 tonnes / year of
TiO 2 capacity taken out in Europe , including a 50,000 tonnes / year plant at Duisburg , Germany .
The specialty TiO 2 business will move to another Venator site at Uerdingen , although Duisburg will still make functional additives . The 80,000 tonnes / year site at Scarlino , Italy , will remain offline pending local regulatory developments and improvement in market conditions for its products .
“ We will strengthen our TiO 2 business through enhancing our product and supply offer to our customers as we recover margins through pricing . In addition , we will also pursue opportunities to monetise specific additives businesses ,” said CEO Simon Turner .
Brazilian buy for Italmatch
Italian-based speciality chemicals group Italmatch has signed a binding agreement to purchase the majority of Alcolina , a Brazilian company specialised in water treatment for bioethanol , sugar production and industrial applications , including paint , pulp and paper . Terms were not disclosed .
Alcolina has two manufacturing sites at Cravinhos and Rio Lago , 80 employees and a turnover of € 35 million in 2023 . Italmatch said that the company is “ strongly complementary ” to its own current product portfolio . The company now generates 5 % of its sales in Latin America .
Lorio - Alcolina strengthens water treatment portflio
“ Through the acquisition of Alcolina we strengthen our water portfolio becoming leader in industrial processes additives for niche but growing end markets , like sugar and bioethanol ,” said CEO Sergio Iorio . “ We see tremendous value and synergies between Italmatch and Alcolina .”
Italmatch has been active in Brazil since 2017 , with the creation of the local subsidiary being followed by the acquisition of Sudamfos do Brasil . More recently , it signed a collaboration and licence agreement for SugarMaxx , a technology for the use of chemicals in the colour stabilisation of cane sugar .
12 SPECIALITY CHEMICALS MAGAZINE