TiO 2 plant in Taiwan
NEWS
IN BRIEF
The Kuan Yin plant is now being decomissioned
Sygnature buys NuChem Drug discovery firm Sygnature Discovery has acquired NuChem Sciences of Montreal and Quebec City , one of North America ’ s largest discovery CROs . Combined , the two will have 1,000 staff , including over 900 scientists . This is Synature ’ s third acquisition since itself being acquired by Five Arrows in the summer of 2021 , after Peak Proteins in April 2022 and SB Drug Discovery in January 2023 . GBL expansion Mitsubishi Group plans to increase the β-butyrolactone ( GBL ) production capacity of its Okayama plant in Kurashiki by 11 % to 20,000 tonnes / year from July 2024 . GBL is a highpurity solvent used as an electrolyte for capacitors and semiconductor part cleaning solutions and a raw material for N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone ( NMP ), used in lithium-ion batteries and for semiconductor parts cleaning solutions .
Laxmi greenlights plant Indian speciality chemicals manufacturer Laxmi Organics has approved a € 78 million investment to build a 100,000 tonnes / year facility at Dahej in India ’ s Gujarat state . Funded internally and due onstream in three years , this will produce speciality items like diketene and ketene derivatives , and commodities like esters , anhydrides and anhydride derivatives , the company said .
Venator plan approved A US bankruptcy court has confirmed Venator Materials ’ Plan of Reorganisation , enabling it to complete a restructuring that will convert nearly all of its funded debt to equity while leaving trade obligations unimpaired . Venator expects to emerge from Chapter 11 in shortly , following the receipt of certain regulatory approvals . Proceeds from the exit financing envisaged under the plan are expected to fund this .
Chemours to close
TiO 2 plant in Taiwan
During its Q2 results presentation , Chemours announced a decision to close its Kuan Yin TiO 2 manufacturing facility in Taiwan . It described this as “ part of a comprehensive strategy to improve the earnings quality of TT – producers of the popular Ti-Pure brand – by optimising its manufacturing circuit ”.
The site ceased producing dry TiO 2 pigment on 1 August and decommissioning has now begun . Sales and technical service teams will work with affected customers to maintain uninterrupted supply . Chemours said that it does not expect any impact on product or service quality .
During Q2 , net sales were 14 % down on Q2 2022 at $ 1.6 billion , largely due to a 16 % fall in volumes . The company had a net loss of $ 376 million because of the $ 644 million incurred in charges related to legal settlements for legacy PFAS environmental costs and related fees .
Within this , the Thermal & Specialized Solutions segment enjoyed record net sales of $ 523 million and record adjusted EBITDA , though its actual growth was minimal . Advanced Performance Materials saw a 3 % fall in net sales to $ 387 million and Titanium Technologies was 27 % down to $ 707 million on the back of a slump in volumes , although prices were stable .
Chemours shortly afterwards completed the sale of its Glycolic Acid usiness to PureTech Scientific , a company founded and backed by private equity firm Iron Path Capital . President and CEO Mark Newman said that this was “ consistent with our focus on sustainable growth for our three principal businesses and creating value for our shareholders ”.
14 SPECIALITY CHEMICALS MAGAZINE ESTABLISHED 1981