Grolman buys Kraft Nordic

MXD-6 nylon resin supplied byMitsubishi Gas Chemical andnanoparticulate clays produced byNanocor itself. As from 12 January2006, PolyOne Corp will no longerhave an exclusive marketing andmanufacturing agreement fornanocomposites made from polyolefin,polyvinyl chloride and related polymers.PolyOne will continue to market itsNanoblend product lines and Nanocorwill continue to be its exclusivenanoclay supplier.

Press Release from: Amcol International Corp, 1500West Shure Drive, Arlington Heights, IL 60004-7803,USA, Tel: +1 847 394 8730, Website:http://www.amcol.com (13 Jan 2006)

European Colour Chairman rescuesMagruder from bankruptcy

Magruder Color, a manufacturer oforganic pigments based in Elizabeth,NJ (in the US) filed for Chapter 11creditor protection last June. Thecompany subsequently received aloan of $3.5 M from 1029 NewarkInvestment Co LLC, in whichPochteca Corp had a 50% interest.Towards the end of 2005, Pochtecaacquired the entire assets andbusiness of Magruder Color andPochteca then changed its own nameto Magruder Color LLC. Mr SteveSmith (Chairman of European Colour,based in Stockport, England) was amajor investor in Pochteca and hehas been appointed as President ofthe “reborn” Magruder. Most of theemployees of Magruder Color havekept their jobs with the company. MrEvan Weissglass has been appointedas Executive Vice President, Sales &Marketing. Mr Jay Roger Weissglasshas been appointed as Executive VicePresident, Operations & HumanResources. Mr Joel Weissglass hasbeen appointed as Executive VicePresident, Administration.

Last October, the Board ofEuropean Colour issued a statementto the effect that it had agreed to allowMr Steve Smith to pursue theMagruder transaction through hisPochteca affiliation, after determiningthat this was not an opportunity whichEuropean Colour wanted to pursue atthis time. Magruder largely operatesin different niche markets to EuropeanColour and therefore there was noperceived conflict of interest to beresolved with Mr Steve Smith.Magruder Color is a manufacturer of

organic pigments based in Elizabeth,NJ (in the US), with a strong customerbase in the graphic arts and printinginks sector.

Press Release from: Magruder Color LLC, Elizabeth,New Jersey, USA, Website: http://www.magruder.com(16 Dec 2005)

Grolman buys Kraft Nordic

Grolman GmbH & Co KG (of Neuss,near Dusseldorf) has acquired KraftChemical Nordic AS and changed itsname to Grolman Nordic, effective 1February 2006. Grolman is one of thetop ten chemical distributors inEurope and the latest acquisition willsubstantially expand its network inNorthern Europe.

Farbe und Lack, Feb 2006, 112 (2), 18 (in German)

Imerys saw Asia as the only growthregion for paper pigments in 2005

Imerys (of Paris) reported global salesat €3.045 M for 2005, an increase of6.1% on the previous year. Demandfor speciality minerals in the paint,plastics, adhesives sectors was fairlyweak in Europe throughout the year.Demand in North America washealthy during 1H 2005, but thenturned down in 2H, mainly as a resultof the hurricanes in the southeasternUSA. Sales of graphite for mobileenergy and lubricants as well as forkiln furniture improved during 2005.

The main segment of the paperindustry for purchasing pigments andfillers from Imerys is the printing andwriting papers segment. In 2005,world production of printing andwriting papers increased by 1.7%,following a 5.1% increase in 2004. InNorth America, paper production wasalmost stable (slipping back by only0.2%), with growth in mechanicalpapers offsetting lower output in othersegments. In Europe, which wasbadly hit in 2Q 2005 by the Finnishpaper industry strike, production ratesprogressively returned to normalduring the summer. Over the year asa whole, European paper productionwas stable, a 2.9% decline in 1H 2005being compensated for by a 3.0%increase in 2H 2005. In Asia, paperproduction increased by 4.9% in2005, thanks partly to the start-up ofnew capacity at several paper mills.The slight decline in Imerys’ sales ofpaper pigments was almost entirely

due to the divestment of its CDMbusiness in Sweden.

Press Release from: Imerys, 154/156, Rue del’Universite, F-75007 Paris, France, Website:http://www.imerys.com (31 Jan 2006)

Lanxess’ restructuring includes sellingoptical brighteners business to Kemira

Lanxess began operating as anindependent entity in July 2004,having inherited virtually all thechemicals activities and some of thepolymer activities formerly under theaegis of Bayer. The demergerenabled Bayer itself to focus onpharmaceuticals, veterinary drugs,agrochemicals, polyurethanes,polycarbonates and “new nichematerials”. For 2005, its first full yearof trading, Lanxess reported a 30%increase in earnings before interest,tax, depreciation and amortisation(EBITDA) to €581 M, while overallsales increased by 5.6% to €7.15 bn.But the company considers that up to25% of its sales revenue comes fromunprofitable businesses, includingcertain parts of its styrenic resins,polybutadiene rubber, butyl rubberand inorganic pigment activities.There have already been someimportant restructuring moves andthere will be more to come.

Effective as from 1 April 2006, itspaper chemicals business has beensold to Kemira, including variousfacilities for making optical brighteners,colorants and functional wet-endchemicals at Bushy Park, SC (in theUnited States) and at Leverkusen(Germany). Effective as from earlyMarch 2006, the Dorlastan fibresbusiness has been sold to Asahi Kasei(of Japan). Effective 1 December 2005,Lanxess sold ISL Chemie (amanufacturer of colour pastes andspeciality coatings) to Berlac (See‘Focus on Pigments’, Feb 2006, 6). InBrazil, Lanxess has announced plansto close its styrenic plastics facilities atCamacari towards the end of 2006, sothat its manufacturing activities will befocused on leather chemicals andinorganic pigments at Porto Feliz.Restructuring of Lanxess’ materialsprotection business will entail relocatingabout 50 jobs from Krefeld-Uerdingento Leverkusen, while marketingactivities relating to Lanxess’ styrenicsbusiness will be transferred fromPittsburgh, PA to Addyston, OH. In

4 MARCH 2006

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