the special focus on high-performancecoloured pigments”.

Press release from: Heubach GmbH, D-38685Langelsheim, Germany, Website:http://www.heubachcolor.de (1 Jan 2003)

Noveon buys CDI’s pigmentsdispersions business

Noveon Inc (of Cleveland, OH) hasacquired certain assets, technologyand other intellectual property fromCDI Dispersions (of Newark, NJ) andis absorbing the acquisition within itsexisting pigment dispersionsbusiness under the aegis of its HiltonDavis subsidiary. The Newark plant,formerly operated by CDI, will beclosed. Meanwhile, Noveon HiltonDavis will expand its capacity formaking pigment dispersions at theCincinnati, OH, plant. The workforcehere will be stepped up from thecurrent level of 170, there will besignificant building renovation andadditional specialised milling andgrinding equipment will be installed.The entire project should becompleted by the end of March2003.

The absorption of the CDI businessshould help Noveon Hilton Davis toconsolidate its position as a majorsupplier of colours and pigmentdispersions that are used bycustomers in the food and beverage,personal care, paint, home care,pharmaceutical and other industrialsectors.

The Noveon group as whole is aleading global producer and marketerof technologically advanced specialitychemicals for a broad range ofconsumer and industrial applications.It employs 2800 people and reportednet income at $36.6 M on sales of$813.5 M for the first nine months of2002. That compares against a netloss of $32 M on sales of $815.2 M inthe first nine months of 2001. The 4%sales increase was achieved thanksto stronger volumes within Noveon’spersonal care, Estane TPU andspeciality coating product lines,incremental acquisition-relatedrevenue and the impact of thestronger Euro; though these increaseswere partially offset by the impact ofdiscontinued product lines at theCincinnati colorants complex and aproduct mix shift coupled with

competitive pricing pressure within theEstane TPU product line.

Press releases from: Noveon Inc, 9911 BrecksvilleRoad, Cleveland, OH 44141-3427, USA. Website:http://www.noveoninc.com (14 Nov & 2 Dec 2002)

Penn Color buys Infinity

Penn Color Inc has acquired InfinityColor, a producer of colourconcentrates for the synthetic fibressector. Infinity employs 12 people andreported sales revenue at $2 M for full-year 2002. Most of Infinity’s productsare based on nylon, polypropylene orpolyethylene terephthalate (PET) atpresent; Penn Color plans to expandthe range to include colourconcentrates based on polyethyleneand polycarbonate. It also plans toinstall a new twin-screw extruder atInfinity’s manufacturing site.

Penn Color itself already has twoUS sites manufacturing plasticcolorants. It also makes liquid pigmentdispersions in the US and in theNetherlands. It employs more than600 people and reported salesrevenue in excess of $140 M for full-year 2002, of which more than halfcame from sales to the plastics sector.

Plastics News, 22 Jan 2003. Website:http://www.plasticsnews.com

PolyOne makes more cuts in NorthAmerica & buys Transcolor in Spain

PolyOne (of Cleveland. OH), theworld’s largest plastics compounder,had been expecting to report a break-even position in its overall financialresults for 4Q 2002. However, by mid-December, it became clear that thecompany was heading for a loss ofbetween $16 M and $20 M, the keyfactors being a sharp decline indemand combined with reducedearnings from its joint venture interestsdue to falling PVC resin shipmentsand a lower than expected sellingprice for caustic soda. In trading onthe New York Stock Exchange, theprice of PolyOne’s shares crashedfrom $6.40 to $3.20 on 18 December,though it had rebounded a little to justover $4 two days later. As recently asmid-September 2002, PolyOne’sshares were trading at more than $10.

The company was already in themiddle of a stringent cost-cuttingprogramme, entailing the closure of14 high-cost plants and the

elimination of 600 jobs. To streamlineits operations, the North Americanplastic compounding business wasrecently reorganised into threesegments: Vinyl, EngineeredMaterials and Colors.

Now further drastic measures havebeen proposed. PolyOne will ceasepaying quarterly dividends toshareholders until further notice. Thesalary freeze for all PolyOneemployees will be prolonged into2003. Another 400 jobs (5% of thetotal workforce) will be cut in 1Q 2003,90% of them in North America. Thisshould yield annual savings of $30-35M in selling, general andadministrative (SG&A) costs. The aimis to cut SG&A costs from 12% ofsales revenue to 10%. PolyOne alsowants to cut its debt by at least $200-300 M by selling off non-core assets,probably including its 50% stake inSunbelt ChlorAlkali and its 24% stakein OxyVinyls. Olin and OxyChem,PolyOne’s respective partners inthese two joint ventures, would havefirst right of refusal in the event ofthose assets being put up for sale.

Meanwhile, in mid-December2002, PolyOne completed itsacquisition of Transformacion dePigmentos & Colorantes SA(Transcolor, of Pamplona in northernSpain). Transcolor generates annualsales revenues of about $36 M fromproducing and selling plastic colourconcentrates, with special emphasison black and white products. (Seealso ‘Focus on Pigments’, Dec 2001,7). The existing Transcolormanagement team, which will remainin place, has been integrated intoPolyOne’s European Color &Additives division. PolyOne hasalready moved some production fromthe Saint Ouen L’Aumone site (nearParis) to Transcolor’s Spanish plant,freeing capacity and allowing theFrench plant to focus on theproduction of colour and additivesystems for local customers.

Plastics News, 20 Dec 2002. Website:http://www.plasticsnews.com & Chemical Week, 1 Jan2003, 165 (1), 9 & 22 Jan 2003, 165 (3), 9 & Pressrelease from: PolyOne Corp, 200 Public Square, Suite36-5000, Cleveland, OH 44114, USA, Website:http://www.polyone.com (15 Jan 2003)

Schulman doubles net income

For the year to end-August 2002,A.Schulman (of Akron, OH) reported

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net income at $32.2 M on sales of$966.6 M, compared against $12.7 Mon $975.2 M for the previous year.Net income for that year included acharge of $4.6 M in respect of costsassociated with closing the Akronmanufacturing facilities.

During the latest year, Schulmancompleted an expansion of its plant atKerpen (Germany), adding newmanufacturing lines with a combinedcapacity of 15,000 tonnes/y plus newwarehouse space. The company alsorenovated and modernised its Italianmanufacturing facility, which waspurchased in 2000. Work was wellunderway on installing two newmanufacturing lines in Mexico andplans were announced for newprojects in China and Poland. TheChinese plant, to be built at anundisclosed location in Guangdongprovince, will be designed with acapacity of 18,000 tonnes/y and itshould come into operation in early2004. (See also ‘Focus on Pigments’,Sep 2002, 3).

At Schulman’s Annual GeneralMeeting, as well as reporting on theprogress of its latest projects, Mr TerryHaines (President & CEO) mentionedthat the company had won the “GrandAward” of the Society of PlasticsEngineers for automotive polymersinnovation. The citation for this awardhighlighted Schulman’s Formionionomer film for automotive exteriors.Towards the end of November,Schulman was chosen by HondaMotor Co to supply Invisionthermoplastic compounds for threeHonda vehicle platforms. The Invisionthermoplastics are said to belightweight, soft-to-the-touch,environmentally friendly alternativesto polyvinyl chloride.

The New Year has started well,with Schulman declaring a sharp risein net income for the quarter to end-November 2002 at $8.3 M, comparedagainst $5.2 M for the equivalentperiod of 2001. The sharp increase inearnings was primarily attributed tothe European operations, with ahealthy rise in sales volume and amuch stronger Euro. Overall,Schulman achieved a 4.2% increasein sales tonnage and a 5.3% increasedue to beneficial movements inforeign exchange rates.

A 26-week programme has beenstarted to improve the cost efficiencyand profitability of Schulman’s North

American operations. The target is togenerate annual operating savings of$6-7 M. Mr Haines said: “The NorthAmerican business has been affectedby higher resin prices, continuingcompetitive pressure and weakdemand for value-added engineeredproducts. The programme reflects thecommitment of Schulman to excel inall its geographic markets.”

Schulman describes itself as a“leading international supplier of high-performance plastic compounds andresins, which are used as rawmaterials in a variety of markets. Itsprincipal product lines consist ofproprietary and custom-formulatedengineered plastic compounds, colourconcentrates and additives thatimprove the appearance andperformance of plastics in a numberof specialised applications.”Altogether, the Schulman groupemploys approximately 2,300employees and has 13 manufacturingfacilities in North America, Europe,Mexico and the Asia/Pacific region.

Press releases from: A.Schulman Inc, 3550 WestMarket Street, Akron, OH 44333, USA. Fax: +1 330668 7204. E-mail: info@aschulman.com. Website:http://www.aschulman.com (9 & 27 Jan 2003 & 5 Dec2002)

Sun buys AIC, French producer ofspecial effect pigments

Sun Chemical (of Fort Lee, NJ, asubsidiary of Dainippon Ink &Chemicals) has acquired a 50% stakein Assemblage Intermoleculaire enChimie Organique (AIC), whichproduces special effect organicpigments, additives and inks atLibourne (France). AIC occupies anestablished technology position, in thevanguard of innovations inthermochromic and photochromiccoatings systems.

Ink Maker, Dec 2002, 80 (12), 8

TECHNOLOGYDirk’s low-cost cenospheres frompower-station fly-ash

Dirk European Holdings Ltd hasbegun marketing cenospheres underthe brandname Tecfil. Cenospheresare hollow vitreous spheres but quitethick walls. They are recoverable fromthe inorganic solid waste (fly-ash)

amassed by electrostatic precipitatorsat coal-fired power station flues.Cenospheres are low-densitymaterials, with low acoustic andthermal conductivity. Typically, thesoftening temperature forcenospheres is of the order of1200°C. They have high compressivestrength and are generally chemicallyinert materials, so cenospheres aresuitable for a variety of applicationswith fibre-reinforced plastics, fire-retardant coatings, epoxy andphenolic resins, and mouldings.

Dirk claims that cenospheres couldbe used as low-cost replacements fortalc, clays, calcium carbonate, glassspheres and other silica fillers.

Reinforced Plastics (London), Oct 2002, 46 (10), 16

DyStar launches world’s firstfluorescent dye for cellulosic fibres

DyStar has developed RemazolFluorescent Yellow FL, said to be theworld’s first fluorescent reactive dye forcellulosic fibres. Applications includehigh-visibility workwear, fashion-wearand sportswear. Fluorescent yellowshades can be dyed on to blends ofcellulosics with polyester andpolyamide. Also, the new product iscompatible with the full range ofRemazol and Levafix CA dyes.

European Chemical News, 4 Nov 2002, 77 (2028), 33

Teknor’s black colour concentrate forPVC compounds

Teknor Color Co has introduced anew black colour concentrate forpolyvinyl chloride (PVC): CS-2001-3Black.

This offers uniform dispersion athigher loadings in the PVC carrierresin than traditional carbon blacks.So, throughout the melt processing,the pigment is distributed moreconsistently, according to thecompany. As a result, the CS-2001-3Black offers higher productivity andproves to be ideal for manufacturersthat are running faster and thinnerwire and cable production. It reducesspark-outs and contains no lead orother heavy metals. It is also cost-efficient, as the versatile carrier resincan be used with a range of flexibleand semi-rigid PVC compounds.

Plastics Additives and Compounding, Oct 2002, 4(10), 12

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