October 2007 Additives for Polymers9

last year, helped by autonomous growth and the posi-tive impact of lower manufacturing costs. Revenues for the segment were up 5% to 136 million.

CEO Hans Wijers is very pleased with the results for the second quarter. ‘We are continuing to deliver operationally, especially in terms of margin enhance-ment, and we remain in excellent financial shape as we prepare to push ahead with our ambitious global growth plans, which will be carried out in a financially disciplined manner. Clearly, all the hard work we have put in over recent years to create a newly focused com-pany is paying off,’ he says.

In line with its stated strategy to seek value-enhanc-ing acquisitions while remaining financially disciplined, Akzo Nobel has recently made a successful bid to purchase British firm Imperial Chemical Industries plc (ICI). Under the terms of the transaction agreed between the two companies, Akzo will pay ICI share-holders £6.70 in cash for every share and an additional interim dividend of up to £0.05/share if the deal is con-cluded before 31 December this year. ICI’s Adhesives and Electronic Materials businesses are to be sold on to Henkel but Akzo Nobel believes the remaining ICI operations represent a highly attractive addition to its focused coatings and chemicals business.

Contact: Akzo Nobel NV, Arnhem, The Netherlands. Tel: +31 26 3664433, Web: www.akzonobel.com

Cytec announces 13% rise in second quarter profit

New Jersey-based Cytec Industries Inc posted a net profit for the second quarter of 2007

of US$54.8 million on net sales of $864 million. Included in the quarter is an after-tax net restruc-turing charge of $1.8 million. Net earnings for 2Q 2006 were $48.5 million on net sales of $853 million.

David Lilley, chairman, president and CEO says that the second quarter results reflect the continuing sales growth in Engineered Materials, and the company’s efforts in Specialty Chemicals to increase selling prices to improve recovery of higher raw material costs.

‘We also had an improved product mix and we are seeing the benefits of our efficiency and improve-ment initiatives, particularly in our speciality chemical segments,’ he says. Cytec’s overall operating margin improved to more than 10%, reflecting a strong per-formance by all segments.

In Cytec Performance Chemicals – part of the Specialty Chemicals segment and home to the com-pany’s polymer additive products – sales decreased 20% to $185 million as the earlier divestiture of the water treatment chemicals product line decreased sales by 22%. Base selling volumes and selling prices were up slightly and exchange rate changes increased sales 2%. Selling volumes were lower in most product lines, including polymer additives. However, operating earn-ings increased 30% to $23.7 million, primarily due to the benefits of Cytec’s efficiency and improvement ini-tiatives in both manufacturing and operating expenses and an improved product mix, Lilley says.

Looking ahead to the remainder of the year, Lilley expects the Specialty Chemical segments to have good growth in all parts of the world except North America where the company is forecasting demand to be weak. Selling prices are expected to continue to cover higher raw material costs. The efforts to improve the underly-ing profitability of the Specialty Chemical segments ‘are evident’, according to Lilley, and Cytec is on track to complete the review of additional improvement options during the third quarter, he says.

Contact: Cytec Industries Inc, West Paterson, NJ, USA. Tel: +1 973 357 3100, Web: www.cytec.com

Chemtura reports second quarter 2007 results

Chemtura Corp, headquartered in Middlebury, CT, USA, reported a net loss

of US$2 million for the second quarter of 2007 compared to a net profit of $1 million for the same quarter last year. The 2Q 2007 result includes a loss from continuing operations of $30 million, income from discontinued opera-tions of $3 million, and a gain on the sale of discontinued operations of $25 million. On a

FINANCIALS

10Additives for Polymers October 2007

non-GAAP basis, the company achieved net earnings of $43 million for the quarter.

Sales for the second quarter were up 9%, from $971 million in 2006 to $1.06 billion in 2007, boosted by acquisitions, increased sales volumes of existing busi-nesses and favourable foreign currency translation effects.

Despite the net loss, Chemtura’s chairman and CEO Robert Wood believes the second quarter results ‘reflect numerous positives’, including record earn-ings for Consumer Products and continued sequential improvement in Polymer Additives. The efforts over the past three years are finally showing a positive impact, he says. ‘The focus on cost and effectiveness will remain our highest priority in the coming quar-ters. Despite raw material cost pressures, the third and fourth quarters are expected to provide us with the first consecutive year-on-year positive comparisons in many quarters,’ he adds.

Polymer Additives segment revenues were up 8% at $475 million, compared to $439 million in 2Q 2006, despite some weakness in the electronics and building and construction industries. Non-GAAP operating income of $39 million was down from the 2006 quarter but up 23% compared to 1Q 2007 on a 7% increase in sequential revenues as the company continued its initiatives to improve the performance of certain of its polymer additive product lines. The improvement in the quarter was made despite the impact of continuing increases in raw material input costs, particularly tin and tallow.

During the second quarter of 2007, Chemtura initiated a company-wide restructuring plan in order to improve performance and accelerate growth. This plan includes the realignment of its business segments, streamlining of the organization, re-evaluation of its manufacturing footprint and the redirection of efforts to focus on end-use markets. The company has select-ed several locations for closure or sale [ADPO, August 2007] and is continuing to evaluate further rationali-zation of its manufacturing footprint. As of 30 June 2007, Chemtura had identified approximately 600 position reductions and recorded a 2Q pre-tax charge for severance of $20 million related to these actions.

Contact: Chemtura Corp, Middlebury, CT, USA. Tel: +1 203 573 2220, Web: www.chemtura.com

EQUIPMENT

New Buss kneader aids special masterbatch production

Buss AG of Pratteln in Switzerland is unveil-ing a new high-performance MX Kneader

generation at this year’s K 2007 event. This further development of the universal Buss MKS Kneader is optimized for the processing of high-grade polyolefin-based cable compound and the production of special masterbatches, the company says.

According to Buss, the new model offers several advantages compared to existing kneaders. Its through-put is 2.5 times greater without any increase in size, thus reducing investment outlay and processing costs accordingly. In addition, specific power consumption for compounding is about 15% lower thanks to more-efficient energy utilization. This decisive technological advance is mainly due to the new four-flight screw and the redesigned kneading chamber with greater volume, the company explains. As in all Buss Kneaders, the screw oscillates axially each time it rotates, generating a combined motion that intensively but gently mixes the product. Thanks to the compounding technol-ogy improvements and individual processing zone optimizations, the mass temperature rise as a function of screw speed is significantly less than before, accord-ing to Buss. This enables screw speeds up to 800 rpm while maintaining the temperature below 190°C (the maximum admissible temperature for cable com-pounds). Buss has also developed the MX Kneader drive, comprising a compact combination of four water-cooled induction motors actuating the screw shaft through epicyclic and linear gearing.

After compounding in the MX Kneader, the product is taken over by a rugged flanged-on extruder screw. This is specially designed to build up the necessary pressure for melt filtration and product granula-tion by water-cooled die-face cutting. All modules downstream of the MX Kneader, such as the extruder screw, screen changer and granulating unit, are flexibly displaceable on two axes in a linear system. This not only facilitates access to each module for cleaning and maintenance purposes, but also enables rapid product changes. According to Buss, the high-performance MX

EQUIPMENT