pharmaceutical, household chemicaland construction sectors.

China Chemical Reporter, 16 Mar 2007, 18 (8), 13

France: Omya – GCC

The Omey chalk deposit in the ParisBasin and the associated groundcalcium carbonate operation gave itsname to the company now known asOmya AG (formerly Pluess-Staufer,headquartered at Oftringen,Switzerland). The company acquiredtitle to the St Michel chalk deposits,near Omey and Chalons-sur-Marne,in 1891. Its first processing facilityhere opened in 1900. To facilitate bulkshipments of GCC, a new rail terminalwas installed 5 km from the GCCplant in 1972. Currently, the operationcan produce around 500,000 tonnes/yof GCC. The Omyalite-90 grade,produced at Omey, has a brightnessof 86-87, which makes it one of thebrightest GCC grades derived fromchalk. In recent years, Omya hasinvested substantial sums at Omey inorder to produce granular and dust-free formulations in high volumes.

Meanwhile, in France and otherEuropean markets, Omya has beenpromoting its masterbatch productOmyalene-102M, offering cost andenvironmental advantages in a varietyof polymer systems.

Plastics and Rubber Weekly, 6 Apr 2007, 7

India: Phillips – carbon black

Phillips Carbon Black Ltd (part of theRP Goenka group) has announced anew investment programme, entailingthe spending of Rup 2.44 bn (morethan $50 M). The company willestablish a new 75,000 tonnes/ycarbon black plant at a greenfieldssite in Mundra (Gujarat). It will alsoraise capacity at its Kochi plant from35,000 tonnes/y to 85,000 tonnes/y.

On completion of this programme,Phillips will have 395,000 tonnes/y ofcarbon black capacity, including140,000 tonnes/y at Durgapur (WestBengal) and 95,000 tonnes/y atVadodara/Baroda (Gujarat). Phillipswill also spend Rup 1.06 bn toestablish two new power plants, onewith a capacity of 12 MW, the otherwith a capacity of 14 MW.

Business Line, 4 May 2007, 14 (123), 2

Japan: Tokyo Denpa – speciality ZnO

Tokyo Denpa plans to begincommercial-scale production of aspeciality grade of zinc oxide beforethe end of 2007. The company isusing a hydrothermal synthesisprocess to make single crystals ofzinc oxide, which can be made intowafers of 5 cm diameter, for use assubstrates for gallium nitride lightemitting diodes.

Japan Chemical Week, 8 Mar 2007, 48 (2407), 3

Saudi Arabia: Ingenia Polymers –plastics masterbatch

Ingenia Polymers Corp (of Houston,Texas) is planning to build a largeplant at Dammam to produce plasticsmasterbatches, compounds andsuperblends. It is somewhatambiguously reported that thecapacity of this plant will be similar tothat of its American plants. Ingeniahas several plants in the Americas,with differing capacities; its totalcapacity in this region is of the orderof 136,000 tonnes/y. Most of theoutput from the new Dammam plantwill be sold to markets in the MiddleEast, notably Turkey and Egypt. Theplant should be ready forcommissioning in November 2008.

Plastics News, 8 May 2007, (Website:http://www.plasticsnews.com)

Singapore: Toshiki/Nikko Chemicals –pigments for cosmetics

Toshiki Pigment (part of the NikkoChemicals group, based in Japan)was one of the first companies tobuild manufacturing facilities inSingapore in response toencouragement from Singapore’sEconomic Development Board, whichhas been keen to establish aconsumer and professional servicescluster in the personal care andcosmetics sector. Within this sector,innovation and patents are particularlyimportant; Singapore has one of thebest reputations in Asia for intellectualproperty protection.

Toshiki manufactures cosmeticpigments in powder form and willdraw on its manufacturing experienceat the Utsoniya plant at Tochigi inJapan.

Japan Chemical Week, 12 Apr 2007, 48 (2412), 6-7

Ukraine: SOKA – kaolin

Sté Kaolinière Armoricaine (SOKA), aprivately owned French miningcompany, has acquired Plast, ownerof the Verboskoe kaolin deposit nearPervomiansk (Nykolaev district).SOKA intends to install newprocessing facilities here in order toproduce kaolin grades suitable for theEast European and EastMediterranean sanitary ware, glass-fibre and porcelain sectors.

SOKA already operates threekaolin mines in the Brittany region ofFrance, with a total capacity of120,000 tonnes/y.

Press Release from: SOKA, Website: http://www.soka-kaolin.com (5 Feb 2007)

Ukraine: Sumy Khimprom – TiO2

For full-year 2006, Sumy Khimpromproduced about 35,500 tonnes of TiO2pigment and it intends to increaseoutput by 24% to 44,000 tonnes in2007. The company recently installeda new bead mill, with a volume of1020 litres, at its Sumy plant innortheastern Ukraine. It also launcheda new rutile-type pigment, the R-208grade.

PPCJ, Polymers, Paint, Colour Journal, Feb 2007, 197(4509), 6

US: Ingenia – plastics masterbatch

Ingenia Polymers Corp is spending$8.5 M to build a new 45,000 tonnes/yblack masterbatch line at its Houstonplant. The product will be based oncarbon black pigment and polyolefinresins.

Plastics News, 8 May 2007, (Website:http://www.plasticsnews.com)

US: Plasticolors – pigment dispersions

Plasticolors Inc has completed anexpansion of its laboratory facilities atAshtabula, Ohio. The company added42,000 sq ft of floor area toaccommodate eight new work-stations in the labs, as well as aconference room and extra officespace. The expansion will help tosupport Plasticolors’ business inmaking and marketing pigmentdispersions for thermoset plastics.

Reinforced Plastics (London), Apr 2007, 51 (4), 9

MAY 2007 5

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