Italy: Solvay — calcium carbonate

to 30,000 tonnes/y of TiO2 pigment atits Thann plant in eastern France.Waste acid neutralisation had beencarried out for many years at theThann sulfate-route TiO2 pigmentplant site, even before MillenniumChemicals took over running theoperation. However, the 140,000tonnes/y of solid crude gypsumproduced by acid neutralisation wassimply dumped at an approval landfillsite. Millennium has now completed aprogramme to convert the crudegypsum waste into a marketable whitegypsum product. Onwards from thebeginning of 2003, the company hasbeen selling 50,000 tonnes/y of thiswhite gypsum to cement and buildingplaster manufacturers. Meanwhile, itcontinues to generate about 90,000tonnes/y of red gypsum at Thann: thismaterial is currently being used for“landscaping” at the company’s wastedisposal site in Ochsenfeld.Millennium is investing €50 M forlandscaping and protection of thewater table at Ochsenfeld. When thecompany ceases landscaping atOchsenfeld in 2008, it will be obligedto find new outlets for marketing ordisposing of the red gypsum.

Chimie Hebdo, 24 Mar 2003, (207), 6 & 28 Apr 2003,(211), 6 (in French)

Italy: Solvay – calcium carbonate

Angera de Stà Generale Magnesia(SGM, part of the Solvay group)produces magnesium chemicals andby-product calcium carbonate atRosignano. Carbonate production isdue to be increased from the currentlevel of 30,000 tonnes/y to 37,000tonnes/y. Siemens was recentlyawarded a contract worth €8 M overfive years to carry out scheduledmaintenance of the Rosignano plant.

Chemische Rundschau, 11 Mar 2003, 56 (5), 6 (inGerman)

Russia: Petrozavodsk – schungite, as asource of natural carbon black

SC Carbon Shungite (of Petrozavodskon the Karelian peninsula) is the onlycompany in the world commerciallyexploiting schungite rock deposits.Schungite is essentially a petrifiedform of petroleum, in which thecarbon is amorphous (ie non-crystalline), extremely active inoxidation-reduction processes and

chemically stable in aggressiveoxygen-free media. Schungite hassorptive catalytic properties. It can beseen as a source of “natural carbonblack” and it is used in a variety ofapplications, often as a substitute forcarbon black in rubber and plastic.

Khimiya i Rynok, Feb 2003, (26), 36-38 (in Russian)

Russia: Yaroslavl – carbon black

The Yaroslavl Carbon Black Workscurrently exports more than 60% of itsoutput to companies such as Goodyearand Continental. In order to cater forincreasing demand, carbon blackoutput here is to be raised from155,000 tonnes/y to 200,000 tonnes/yby 2005.

European Chemical News, 21 Apr 2003, 78 (2049)

Singapore: Silberline – inorganicpigments

Silberline Manufacturing Co plans toestablish a new inorganic pigmentsplant in Singapore by the end of 2003.The company already operates apigment plant at Leven in Scotlandand two similar facilities in the US,one in Pennsylvania, one in Indiana.

APCJ, Asia Pacific Coatings Journal, Apr 2003, 16 (2),10

Switzerland: Ciba – DPP

Ciba Specialty Chemicals hasannounced plans to invest SFR 18 Mto install a new line for the productionof diketo-pyrrolo-pyrrole (DPP) at itsMonthey complex. DPP is a high-performance organic pigment,developed by Ciba during the 1990s.DPP is widely used in automotive andindustrial paints, inks and electronics.The new line should be completedduring 2004.

Chimie Hebdo, 14 Apr 2003, (210), 4 (in French)

US: Ampacet – plastics masterbatch

Ampacet Corp has recently completeda $10 M expansion at its customcolour masterbatch production facilityat Heath, OH. The floor area of theplant was doubled to 80,000 sq ft.

As part of the project, the companyinstalled a tri-layer blow mouldingmachine to help bottle colour

development projects. It also installedtwin-screw extruders to expand itscustom colour production capability.Ampacet can now guarantee fasterdelivery of small lot colourmasterbatches (2000-10,000 pounds)and it can speed up colour matchingto three days or less.

Ampacet’s global sales werearound $500 M last year – similar tothe level achieved in 2001. Salesvolume increased by 2%, but this wasoffset by lower average prices.

Plastics Additives and Compounding, Mar-Apr 2003, 5(2), 8 & Plastics News, 25 Feb 2003, (Website:http://www.plasticsnews.com)

US: Schulman – plastics colorants

A Schulman Inc has announced theclosure of its dispersions plant atOrange, TX. The plant currentlyproduces about 30,000 tonnes/y ofblack colour concentrates based onthermoplastic olefins, mainly destinedfor sale to the US automotive industry.There are 68 employees at Orange.The closure will be completed beforethe end of August 2003 andSchulman anticipates taking chargesof $6-8 M in its accounts for thesecond half of the financial year,ending August 2003. The moveshould result in annual savings of $5M onwards from next year.

As a result of the closure,Schulman’s North American capacitywill be reduced by 12% – from225,000 tonnes/y to 195,000 tonnes/y.The company has stated that it willshift manufacturing of productscurrently made at Orange to otherfacilities in North America, whereverpossible. This will improve overallcapacity utilisation and cost efficiencygenerally. Schulman’s business hasbeen seriously affected by higherresin prices, continuing competitivepressure and weak demand for value-added engineered productsthroughout North America.

As well as announcing the closureof the Orange plant, Schulman hascut back on manpower at its Bellevue,OH plant: 11 job redundancies havebeen declared there. Generalinventory levels are to be reduced by15%, with a view to making annualsavings of $6-7 M. Meanwhile, thecompany is going ahead with its $3.5M expansion programme for the SanLuis Potosi plant in Mexico. (See also

MAY 2003 5

F O C U S O N P I G M E N T S