Towards a renewable future - HOW CAN WE FIX THE PU RECYCLING PROBLEM? - Urethanes Technology

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Towards a renewable future - HOW CAN WE FIX THE PU RECYCLING PROBLEM? - Urethanes Technology
February / March 2021
    A                 PUBLICATION
                                                                                  Vol. 38 No 1

    Towards a
    renewable
    future
    HOW CAN WE FIX THE
    PU RECYCLING PROBLEM?

                                                     Novel amine
                                                         catalysts
                                                      for reduced
                                                        emissions

                www.utech-polyurethane.com   REPORTING ON THE GLOBAL PU INDUSTRY SINCE 1984

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Towards a renewable future - HOW CAN WE FIX THE PU RECYCLING PROBLEM? - Urethanes Technology
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Towards a renewable future - HOW CAN WE FIX THE PU RECYCLING PROBLEM? - Urethanes Technology
CONTENTS
         newslines                                  6-18
     6 ISOPA gets ready to address risks of OELs, Celotex
         distances itself from responsibility for Grenfell,
                                                                   8
                                                                                                                   6
         UTECH Europe 2020 moves to November, Stepan
         acquires Invista polyols, Sinomax returns to profit                                                            The REACH
     7   Tight polyurethane materials markets help Dow                                                                  restriction
         in Q4 2020, Greiner’s consolidation plan swings
         into action, Strong sales growth at Sheela despite
                                                                                                                   introducing
         raw materials, Hauck takes the helm at cutting                                                            minimum training
         machinery company Albrecht Baumer                                                                         requirements for
     8 Mlily set to increase share of the US mattress
         market, Lintech to sell Huntsman hot cast elasto-
                                                                                                                   workers handling
         mers in southern US, BASF completes phase 1 of           BASF updates MDI at Geismar                      diisocyanates and
         Geismar MDI update, Technologic Systems adds PU
         conformal coating option
                                                                                                                   mixtures containing
     11 Huntsman upgrades Q4 EBITDA outlook, Growth in                                                             diisocyanates is a
         online sales drives Nike’s H1 success, Johns                                                              done deal
         Manville adds HFO-blown SPF
                                                                                                                   Jorg Palmersheim, ISOPA
     13 PU layer stops tunnels freezing, PU improves the
         properties of fibre-reinforced composites, Stellar Q4

                                                                                                                   22   Europe’s bed,
         performance saves Wanhua 2020 earnings,
         Dramatic increase in Chinese refrigerator exports,
         Disulfide links give malleable and recyclable PU foam                                                          furniture and
     14 BPCL polyol project in doubt, PU leather maker Anli                                                        mattress makers
         set to open Vietnamese plant, Kool-ex PU reefers to
                                                                                                                   generate about
         distribute coronavirus vaccine in India
     15 A debut UTECH SEA in 2022, Perma-Pipe uses PU
         in Indian pipeline insulation project, MPOB develops
                                                                   14                                              310kT/year trim foam
                                                                                                                   Bert Haeltermann, Recticel
         a palm oil polyol                                        PU helps get coronavirus vaccines out

                                                                                                              23
     17 Sales and plant additions boost Vitafoam Nigeria,
                                                                                                                    We need to
                                                                                                           24 circularstart
         PU for rechargeable electrostatic face masks
     18 Bosnian producer to invest in new PU panel factory,                                                                 creating
         ISCC Plus certificate for Krefeld MDI, Dow’s Herman
         Motmans elected ISOPA president, Plixxent signs                                                                loops and
         up as PU Europe member, Sika launches Purform
         PU technology
                                                                                                                   step up together
                                                                                                                   Marcel Moeller
     19 Lanxess launches energy-efficient PU elastomer,
         Kingspan appoints head of compliance and director

                                                                                                                   25    There must
         retires, Perstorp acquires a new credit facility, BTC
         Europe to distribute BASF PU ingredients
     21 Pricing: Isocyanates supply improves, while polyol                                                               be some kind
         prices increase                                                                                           of future design for
                                                                                                                   recycling. It should
         features                                19-33                                                             be much easier
     22 New life for old foam Mattresses and furniture            New life for old foam                            than it is now
         represent a huge potential source of polyurethane
                                                                                                                   Michal Soltsinski, Ikano Industry
         that could be recycled. As we move into 2021,
         changing rules and extended producer responsibility

                                                                                                                   27
         are starting to focus the minds of EU-based recyclers
     26 Recycling news Wheat waste transformed into PU
                                                                                                                         It is a very
         foam, Belgium’s mattress recycling system gets                                                                  suitable catalyst
         under way
                                                                                                                   for bed-in-a-box
     27 Reactive amines for reduced emissions When
         creating foam for challenging applications such as                                                        applications
         bed-in-a-box mattresses, reducing emissions and                                                           Yusuke Morioka, Tosho
         retaining properties is the name of the game, and
         the choice of catalysts has a huge bearing on

                                                                                                                   29     The market
         results. Sarah Houlton reports
     29 EU foam growth heads eastward The year 2019                                                                       was tough in
         may now seem like the distant past, but it is the last
         time that PU foam production was normal. Chemical
         industry consultant Clint Raine ran through the
         numbers at the recent virtual EuroPUR meeting.
                                                                   30                                              2019, and there were
                                                                                                                   structural changes
                                                                  From waste wheat to polyols                      Clint Raine, Belvedere & Partner

      departments                                       34        Front cover picture:
                                                                  This issue we look at the environment and
     30 Dates and Data                                            the PU industry’s efforts in post-consumer
          Key events for the PU industry                          mattress recycling. Picture: iStock

                                                                                    3                              www.utech-polyurethane.com

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Towards a renewable future - HOW CAN WE FIX THE PU RECYCLING PROBLEM? - Urethanes Technology
COMMENT

                                                                                                        VOLUME 38, NO. 1 ISSN 1754-1352 (USPS 012611)
                                                                                                        Published in February, April, June, August, October and
                                                                                                        December by: Crain Communications Ltd,
                                                                                                        Urethanes Technology International,
                                                                                                        Postal address: Office 127, 61 Willow Walk, London SE1 5SF UK.
                                                                                                        Tel: +44 (0)203 287 5979
                                                                                                        Website: www.UTECH-polyurethane.com

                                                                                                        LEADERSHIP
                                                                                                        Chairman: Keith E Crain
                                                                                                        Vice Chairman: Mary Kay Crain
                                                         Simon Robinson                                 President: K C Crain
                                                                  Editor                                Senior Executive Vice President: Chris Crain
                                                                                                        Vice President and Publisher: Brennan Lafferty
                                                                                                        Tel: +1 313 446 6768 Email: blafferty@crain.com

                                                                                                        EDITORIAL STAFF:

         Hip to be green
                                                                                                        Editor: Simon Robinson
                                                                                                        Tel: +44 (0)203 287 5979 Email: srobinson@crain.com
                                                                                                        Associate Editor: Sarah Houlton
                                                                                                        Email: sarah@owlmedia.co.uk
                                                                                                        Art Director: Amy Steinhauser
                                                                                                        Email: asteinhauser@crain.com

         P
                                                                                                        NORTH AMERICAN OFFICES (Editorial):
                                                                                                        Don Loepp, Tel: +1 313 446 6767 Email: dloepp@crain.com
                    ost-consumer waste was not at the forefront of our thinking a couple of             INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENTS:
                    decades ago, with old furniture and mattresses largely sent to landfill –           CHINA: Jane Ho,
                    out of sight and out of mind. But it’s now becoming clear this bulky waste          Tel: + 86 189 3057 2271 Email: janeadios@gmail.com
                    might be transformed into a reliable new stream of raw materials for the            KOREA: Choong-Ha Lee,
                                                                                                        Tel: + 82 (0)31 211 2073 Email: puworld@naver.com
         polyurethane industry.
                                                                                                        INDIA: Satnam Singh
            As you will see in this issue, a number of projects in the EU are starting to come          Email: Satnamsingh41@hotmail.com
         to fruition. These are aimed at removing mattresses and furniture from municipal               TRADE SHOWS/EXHIBITONS
         waste, and have the useful side-effect of stimulating a whole new field of endeav-             Director: Debbie Hershfield
                                                                                                        Tel: + 1 303 608 0231 Email: dhershfield@crain.com
         our for polyurethanes.
                                                                                                        NORTH / SOUTH AMERICA, UK, OPEN AREAS:
            We have covered companies reworking in-process scrap before, but the challenge              Advertising director: Ed Rich,
         of post-consumer waste is significantly greater. It is complicated, and the waste is           Tel: +1 330 869 0375 Email: erich@crain.com
         often very dirty, and one thing is clear – there is a lot of it. But, with proper treatment,   NORTHERN EUROPE: Arthur Schavemaker,
                                                                                                        Tel: +31 (0)547 275005, Fax: +31 (0)547 271831
         it could become a good source of viable, consistent raw materials.                             Email: arthur@kenter.nl
            Away from the feature, the annus horribilis that was 2020 is now behind us. With            SOUTHERN EUROPE: Fabio Potesta,
         luck, by the time you read this, the world will be steadily getting through the mass           Tel/fax: +39 010 570 4948,
                                                                                                        Fax: +39 010 553 0088 Email: info@mediapointsrl.it
         vaccination programmes that will allow us all to return to a more active state.                CHINA: Winnie Song,
            I hesitate to say ‘normal’, because that implies a return to the way we were before         Tel: +86 13810 173625 Email: songwei@wkexpo.com
         the coronavirus changed the world. One thing is certain, post-pandemic, things will            AFRICA, INDIA, MIDDLE EAST: Taher Patrawala,
         be different. Fewer people will commute into offices, perhaps reducing the demand              Tel: +971 4 297 0512 Email: taher@mediafusionme.com
                                                                                                        KOREA: Min Pyo
         for cars. Cities may become less attractive places to live, offering opportunities to          Tel: +82 (0) 31 211 2073 Email: minpyo@hotmail.com
         furnish homes in more rural settings or smaller towns.                                         Media services manager: Patrick Alfes
            It is not yet clear. But if things continue to improve, then at least the cycle of meet-    Tel: +1 313 446 0387 Email: palfes@crain.com
         ings, conferences and exhibitions can start again. There may be fewer handshakes,
                                                                                                        SUBSCRIPTION DETAILS: £20.00/€25.50 single copy;
         we may be wearing masks, and we may be trying to keep a couple of metres apart,                £90.00/€101.00. Subscription includes surface mail postage; air mail
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                                                                                                        address. Note: Subscription payments may be made using all stand-
         all-important business connections. See our announcements on pages 7 and 15.                   ard credit and debit cards at: UTECH-polyurethane.com/subscribe,
            I’m looking forward to reporting on a number of events in the second half of the year,      where you will find a range of different subscription options.
         and providing information and insights to help you run your business more effectively.
                                                                                                        Subscriptions (abonnement) enquiries correspondence:
                                                                                                        Circulation Dept, Urethanes Technology International,
                                                                                                        1155 Gratiot Ave. Detroit, MI 48207, United States.
                                                                                                        Tel: +1 313 446 0450
                                                                                                        Email: customerservice@utech-polyurethane.com
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                                                                                                        Dorset, UK
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           www.utech-polyurethane.com                                          4

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Towards a renewable future - HOW CAN WE FIX THE PU RECYCLING PROBLEM? - Urethanes Technology
WEBINARS &
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UT/ERJ full page.indd 6                                                            2/8/21 9:34 AM
Towards a renewable future - HOW CAN WE FIX THE PU RECYCLING PROBLEM? - Urethanes Technology
INTERNATIONAL NEWSLINES

         ISOPA gets ready to                                                                                              Stepan acquires
                                                                                                                          Invista polyols

         address risks of OELs
                                                                                                                          Northfield, Illinois – In-
                                                                                                                          vista’s aromatic polyester
                                                                                                                          polyol business has been
                                                                                                                          acquired by Stepan. No
         Brussels, Belgium – Occupa-                                                   ‘The REACH restriction in-         price has been given for
         tional exposure levels (OELs)                                              troducing minimum training            the all-cash deal; the ac-
         are the next big regulatory                                                requirements for workers han-         quired business has glob-
         challenge the polyurethane in-                                             dling diisocyanates and mix-          al sales of about $100m.
         dustry in the European Union                                               tures containing diisocyanates           The polyols are sold
         will face in 2021, according to                                            is a done deal,’ he said. ‘We         under the Terate brand.
         ISOPA secretary general Jorg                                               are in the transition phase to        They are used in the
         Palmersheim.                                                               24 August 2023, and it is up to       manufacture of flex-faced
            ‘We are right in the middle of                                          the industry to ensure compli-        boardstock, metal-faced
         the OEL process,’ Palmersheim                                              ance by that date.’                   sandwich panels, spray
         said. ‘An impact assessment                                                   He added that the associ-          foam, block foam. They
         questionnaire will be sent to                                              ation aims to get the training        also have a variety of
         many, many companies by                                                    platform up and running by the        CASE applications.
         Risk Policy Analysts of the UK.                                            middle of 2021. ‘We can then             The acquisition gives
         Its findings will form the cor-                                            start the e-learning process          Stepan two additional
         nerstone of the data used to        Palmersheim: gearing up for OELs       in the big PU-using countries         manufacturing sites, one
         drive the impact assessment.’                                              such as Germany, France, the          in Wilmington, North Car-
            ISOPA believes the best way      pational health and safety,’           Netherlands and Spain,’ he            olina, and the second in
         to protect workers from expo-       he said. ‘This would be much           said. ‘We will then progres-          Vlissingen, Netherlands.
         sure to diisocyanates is to use     more effective than a very             sively roll the training out in       Inventory, IP and working
         the EU’s REACH restriction,         low OEL for an eight-hour              additional countries.’                capital are also included.
         and its mandatory training.         time weighted average work-               A website has been set up             The company believes
         ‘When it provided its opinion       ing day. The danger to health          www.safeusediisocyanates.eu           the long-term prospects
         on the restriction, the Euro-       comes from spikes in expo-             for interested parties.               for rigid polyols in insula-
         pean      Chemicals      Agency     sure.’                                    An ISOPA/UTECH webi-               tion remains strong in the
         (ECHA) concluded that it is the        ISOPA expects the impact            nar about the process is also         light of energy conser-
         most effective and efficient        assessment to be finished by           available at www.utech-polyure-       vation and increasingly
         measure to enhance occu-            the middle of 2021.                    thane.com/events.                     stringent building codes.

           UTECH Europe moves to November 2021
           London – UTECH Europe             the event’s organiser and
                                                                                    Celotex distances itself from
           has been rescheduled to 16-
           18 November.
                                             publisher of Urethanes Tech-
                                             nology International.
                                                                                    responsibility for Grenfell
              The venue, MECC in Maas-           Hershfield added that, af-         London, UK – Celotex, which         and contractors included par-
           tricht, Netherlands, is un-       ter consulting stakeholders,           made the PIR insulation used        ties which were contractually
           changed.                          it felt right to take the early        on the Grenfell Tower, issued       and professionally obliged to
              ‘We are committed to a         decision to postpone UTECH             a further statement in late De-     consider the fire safety for the
           strong and vibrant UTECH          Europe until later in the year.        cember 2020. This distanced         building and its compliance
           Europe in 2021 to provide             ‘We believe the move will          itself and its current manage-      with building regulations.’
           the polyurethanes indus-          fill exhibitors, speakers and          ment from the tragedy.                 Celotex said that an inter-
           try with a much-needed            attendees with more confi-                The company said in the          nal inquiry into the events
           platform to recapture lost        dence that they will see the           statement that its PIR product      leading up to the fire showed
           opportunities, identify new       UTECH Europe they have                 RS5000 was marketed for use         that there had been unaccept-
           business and re-engage with       come to expect,’ Hershfield            in rainscreen cladding sys-         able conduct on the part of a
           industry associates, friends      continued.                             tems for buildings above 18m        number of former employees.
           and colleagues,’ said Debbie          More details can be found          high. However, the system           ‘They should never have hap-
           Hershfield, trade show direc-     at the event’s website, www.           used on the tower was ‘sub-         pened,’ it said. ‘Disciplinary
           tor at Crain Communications,      utecheurope.eu.                        stantially different’ from the      proceedings were instituted
                                                                                    system it had tested.               as a result and six employees
                                                                                       ‘Celotex does not design         left the company (others hav-
                                                                                    and install cladding systems,       ing resigned previously).’
           News in Brief                                                            and did not do so at the Gren-         Celotex said that it has re-
                                                                                    fell Tower,’ it said. ‘The design   placed its management, and
            Sinomax returns to profit        The Hong Kong-listed flex-             of the rainscreen cladding          reviewed and refreshed its
                                             ible foam company, has a               system on Grenfell Tower and        factory process controls, quali-
            Hong Kong – Sinomax ex-          number of plants in China              the selection of the compo-         ty management and approach
            pects to make an after-tax       and the US. It released the            nents were decisions made           to marketing to ensure these
            profit of HK$50m ($6.4m)         figures in a statement.                by construction industry pro-       meet best practice.
                                                                                    fessionals. The professionals          The inquiry continues.

           www.utech-polyurethane.com                                           6

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Towards a renewable future - HOW CAN WE FIX THE PU RECYCLING PROBLEM? - Urethanes Technology
INTERNATIONAL NEWSLINES

         Tight polyurethane materials
         markets help Dow in Q4 2020
         Midland, Michigan – Fourth             ‘As the global economy and                                                at Sadara drove this result,’
         quarter sales at Dow Chemical       market fundamentals contin-                                                  Fitterling said. Net sales in
         were up almost 5% compared          ue to improve, demand drove                                                  polyurethane grew by double
         with the same period in 2019,       volumes above or in line with                                                digits from 2019 to 2020 and
         at $10bn. The company’s in-         pre-coronavirus levels across                                                between Q3 and Q4 in 2020,
         dustrial intermediates & in-        all operating segments,’ he                                                  he added.
         frastructure business, which        said. ‘We captured strong du-                                                   Looking ahead to the first
         includes     PU,    contributed     rable goods in construction                                                  quarter of 2021, CFO Howard
         $3.5bn.                             demand, we grew volumes                                                      Ungerleider said sales should
            In 2020, the company’s           in do-it-yourself architectural                                              be between $10.7-11.2bn be-
         overall sales were $38.5bn,         coatings and home care sec-                                                  cause of the strength in poly-
         down 10.3% on the 2019 figure.      tors.’                                                                       urethanes. ‘That segment will
            CEO Jim Fitterling said that        In Q4, sales in the industrial                                            benefit from deurbanisation
         in the final quarter, improved      intermediates & infrastructure                                               and strong demand for do-
         pricing and margins, particu-       business grew by 7.6% from                                                   mestic appliances, and will be
         larly in polyethylene and poly-     the previous year. This trans-          Fitterling: gaining momentum         supported by the automotive
         urethane applications, deliv-       lated into a 33% increase in                                                 and housing sectors,’ he said.
         ered 5% revenue growth and          operating EBIT, which reached           mentals in polyurethanes, as         ‘Industry supply limitations,
         higher operating EBIT year-         $296m.                                  well as higher equity earnings       and low inventories, should
         over-year.                             ‘Supply and demand funda-            from improved performance            support pricing uplift.’

         Greiner’s consolidation plan                                                                                       Strong sales growth
                                                                                                                            at Sheela despite
                                                                                                                            despite raw materials
         for foam swings into action                                                                                        Noida, India – Sheela
                                                                                                                            Foam, India’s only listed
                                                                                                                            flexible foam maker, gen-
         Kremsmunster, Austria – Plas-                                               implementation, and hence              erated sales of INR8.26bn
         tics and PU foam company                                                    virtually any item that can be         ($113.4m) in the third quar-
         Greiner has brought its Mul-                                                manufactured using this mate-          ter of 2020, up 26% on
         tifoam, Perform, Purtec, Uni-                                               rial,’ he said. ‘This represents a     the same period last year.
         foam and EuroFoam business-                                                 significant USP.’                      EBITDA across the busi-
         es together into a new entity.                                                 It marks part of parent group       ness rose by 21%, reach-
         The combined business will                                                  Greiner’s plan to become a             ing INR1.1bn in the 2020
         trade under the name Neveon                                                 global force in polyurethane.          quarter.
         in the next stage of the strate-                                            ‘The move towards a leading               Sheela said the results
         gy outlined by the company in                                               global integrated foam group           had been achieved in the
         May 2019.                                                                   is wise,’ said Greiner’s CEO,          face of significant raw ma-
            Neveon has 62 locations                                                  Axel Kuhner.                           terial price rises. It said
         in 17 countries, and 3700 em-       Bruns: a significant USP                   As well as helping the com-         the price of TDI had risen
         ployees. The business is fo-                                                pany to compete in a consoli-          by 63% between Q3 2019
         cusing on three areas: living &     of the new organisation. ‘[The          dating flexible foam market, he        and Q3 2020. Polyols
         care, mobility, and specialities.   new business can] offer every-          said its economy of scale will         were up 116%.
            Oliver Bruns, who was CEO        thing relating foam production,         make raw materials consider-              In the company’s Indi-
         at Greiner Foam, is to be CEO       from solution development to            ably less expensive.                   an business, sales rose
                                                                                                                            by 17% between the third
                                                                                                                            quarter of 2019 and the
           Hauck takes the helm at cutting machinery company Albrecht Baumer                                                third quarter of 2020, to
           Freudenberg, Germany –               Nina Patisson, the current              His background is in elec-          INR6050m. This com-
           Family-owned       machinery      managing director, will retire          trical engineering, and he has         pares with INR5180m in
           manufacturer Albrecht Bau-        from operations on 1 Febru-             managed companies both                 the equivalent period in
           mer has appointed Christoph       ary. ‘We are confident that             at home in Germany and                 2019. EBITDA in the di-
           Hauck as its new managing         Christoph Hauck brings both             abroad.                                vision rose by 39% to
           director. He will be the first    the right education, experi-               He has spent the past cou-          INR990m. In the third
           person outside the family to      ence and personality to this            ple of decades working in the          quarter of 2019, it was INR
           hold the role.                    position,’ Patisson said.               engineering sector.                    710m.

                                                                                 7                                                February/March 2021

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Towards a renewable future - HOW CAN WE FIX THE PU RECYCLING PROBLEM? - Urethanes Technology
AMERICAS NEWSLINES

         Mlily set to increase share
         of the US mattress market
         Nantong, Jiangsu – Chinese        on imports from south-east                      The company’s overseas         expansion, the report said.
         mattress maker Mlily is expect-   Asia. Countries in this region               plants purchase 55% of feed-      Sales in 2021 will likely reach
         ed to increase its US market      now account for 28% of US                    stock locally, which helps it     CNY9.4bn, a 49% jump from
         share from 9% in 2020 to more     consumption, according to a                  counter price fluctuations from   2020.
         than 20% in 2021, according to    report from the Chinese secu-                Chinese suppliers, and main-        Last year, the value of the
         Great Wall Securities.            rities company.                              tain stability in cost manage-    domestic Chinese mattress
            There will be a gap in the         Mlily will be able to help fill in       ment, the report added.           market was CNY77bn, of
         US market of 2.4 million units    the gap, as it already has man-                 Mlily is estimated to record   which memory foam mattress-
         of memory foam mattresses         ufacturing facilities in place in            CNY802m net profit in 2021,       es comprised less than 5%.
         in 2021 following the impo-       the US. These have CNY2.7bn                  up 53% from 2020, with the        This compares to a 50% share
         sition of anti-dumping duties     ($417m) of nameplate capacity.               additional help of domestic       for foam mattresses in the US.

         Lintech to sell
         Huntsman hot                       BASF completes phase 1
         cast elastomers
         in southern US
                                            of Geismar MDI update
                                                Geismar before the
         The Woodlands, Texas – Lin-            extra MDI is added
         tech International is to dis-
         tribute Huntsman’s polyure-
         thane-based Daltocast hot
         cast elastomer systems in the
         southern and western US. The
         company has already been
         distributing Huntsman coat-
         ings and adhesive systems for
         nearly a decade.
            The MDI-based Daltocast
         systems, and the Castech pro-
         cessing machines they are          Geismar, Louisiana – BASF                   phase, announced in April 2019.   addition is limited, the new
         used with, were developed by       has replaced an older MDI                      BASF declined to specify       MDI production unit sets the
         Huntsman’s elastomers team         reactor in Geismar as part of               the size of the unit replaced,    foundation for future growth.’
         in Modena, Italy and Auburn        its plan to increase capacity               or whether the work had             The second expansion
         Hills, Michigan. Applications      from 300kT/year to 600kT/                   changed the current size of       phaseis under way, and is
         include bumper pads, coated        year by the middle of the de-               the plant. A spokesman said:      expected to start up in the
         conveyor belts, gears, rollers     cade.                                       ‘An older MDI synthesis unit      second half of 2021. In April
         and wheels.                           The company said it had                  is no longer in service. Al-      2019, the estimated cost was
            ‘We will be able to tap into    completed the $150m first                   though the instant capacity       put at $87m.
         hot cast elastomers mar-
         kets, which we may not have
         reached otherwise,’ said Alex
         Ziev, Americas sales manager
                                           Technologic Systems adds PU conformal coating option
         at Huntsman Elastomers.           Fountain Hills, Arizona –                    temperatures. It also creates     already install our embedded
            ‘By combining Huntsman’s       Technologic Systems is now                   a barrier to airborne contami-    systems in harsh manufac-
         hot cast technology with Lin-     offering a PU conformal coat-                nants such as salt spray.         turing environments, outdoor
         tech’s strong distribution net-   ing on some of its electronic                  The coating is made from        deployments, and demanding
         work in the US, we can stra-      components.                                  HumiSeal 1A33. This is a sin-     marine settings,’ said Robert
         tegically align our resources        It is a 20–75µm thick pro-                gle component PU conformal        Miller, Technologic Systems’
         to expand and strengthen our      tective coating that conforms                coating with no free isocya-      president.
         customer reach and service to     to the circuit board’s topology.             nates.                               ‘Adding conformal coating
         grow our target markets,’ said       The aim is to provide addi-                 It fluoresces under UV light    just enhances our already
         Jay Downs, director for mar-      tional protection for electronic             which helps when inspecting       rugged portfolio and provides
         keting and business develop-      circuits in environments with                components.                       more protection for our cus-                   TEG
         ment at Lintech.                  high humidity and varying                      ‘We know our customers          tomers.’

           www.utech-polyurethane.com                                               8

P008_P011_UT_20210201.indd 8                                                                                                                           2/9/21 11:27 AM
Towards a renewable future - HOW CAN WE FIX THE PU RECYCLING PROBLEM? - Urethanes Technology
AMERICAS NEWSLINES

         Massachusetts finally enacts FR ban                                                                                 PPG buys polyurea
                                                                                                                             company Versaflex
         Boston, Massachusetts – The                                               state’s department of environ-
         much-delayed flame retardant                                              mental protection (DEP) may               Kansas City, Kansas –
         ban in Massachusetts has fi-                                              now implement a labelling                 PPG has agreed to buy Ver-
         nally been signed into law by                                             programme for products that               saflex from DalFort Capital
         governor Charlie Baker. He                                                meet fire safety standards,               Partners. No price was dis-
         had vetoed an earlier attempt                                             but do not contain any of the             closed, but the transaction
         to institute a ban, in January                                            banned FRs.                               is likely to complete in the
         2019, citing a conflict with fed-                                            The legislation was backed             first quarter.
         eral legislation.                                                         by the Massachusetts firefight-               Versaflex    comprises
            Companies in Massachu-                                                 ers union, which cited serious            four separate businesses,
         setts will be prevented from                                              concerns about the FRs caus-              which employ 130 peo-
         selling or importing various                                              ing cancer among its mem-                 ple. Its 2020 revenue is
         products into the state that                                              bers. ‘This is a massive step             projected to be $70m.
         contain more than 1000ppm                                                 forward in protecting our res-            DalFort put it together be-
         of listed flame retardants in                                             idents and first responders in            tween 2017 and 2019, and
         any of their component parts.       Baker: finally signed the ban         Massachusetts from the dan-               includes Versaflex, Raven
         Products covered include up-                                              gers of these toxic chemicals             Lining Systems, Milamar
         holstered furniture, bedding,       DEP to work with the Toxics           associated with flame-retar-              Coatings and Specialty
         children’s products and car-        Use Reduction Institute at the        dant products,’ union presi-              Products.
         peting. The ban does not ap-        University of Massachusetts           dent Richard MacKinnon said.                  PPG’s SVP for protec-
         ply to inventory manufactured       Lowell to revisit the banned             ‘This has been a very long             tive and marine coatings,
         before 31 December 2021.            list at least every three years       time in coming,’ said Elizabeth           Ram Vadlamannati, said
            The banned list includes an-     to determine whether any oth-         Saunders, Massachusetts di-               Versaflex was attractive.
         timony trioxide, pentaBDE, oc-      er FRs should be added.               rector of pressure group Clean            ‘[It has] broad expertise
         taBDE and chlorinated paraf-           The bill’s passage con-            Water Action. ‘The first version          and manufacturing ca-
         fins. Also covered are TSCPP,       cludes eight years of efforts         of this bill was filed eight years        pabilities in polyurea,’ he
         TCEP, HBCD, TBPH, TBB, TBB-         by Massachusetts legislators          ago.It passed the senate three            said.
         PA and TCPP. The law instructs      to get a ban in place. The            times and the house twice,’

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                                                                               9                                                    February/March 2021

P008_P011_UT_20210201.indd 9                                                                                                                                 2/9/21 11:27 AM
Towards a renewable future - HOW CAN WE FIX THE PU RECYCLING PROBLEM? - Urethanes Technology
BOOTH SPACE AVAILABLE TO RESERVE NOW
                                    • Reach new customers in the Middle East and Africa
                                          • Showcase your latest products and innovations
                                                      • Build brand awareness
                                             • Network with fellow industry professionals

                Contact Ed Rich, Sales Director, at erich@crain.com or call +1 (330) 869-0375
                         for more information and to reserve your booth location.

                                              LEARN MORE AT MEFPU.COM
                  CONNECT WITH US:                 @UTECH_PU                UTECH Polyurethane #UTECHMEA
                          Organised by:                    In association with:                Co-located with:

UT/ERJ full page.indd 2                                                                                           2/8/21 9:34 AM
AMERICAS NEWSLINES

         Huntsman upgrades
         Q4 EBITDA outlook
         The Woodlands, Texas –             25% better than the final quar-
         Huntsman has said that ad-         ter of 2019.
         justed EBITDA in its polyure-         It added that the sale of its
         thanes business will be at         remaining stake in Venator
         least 20% better than its third    Materials, a cyclical business
         quarter performance.               focused on titanium dioxide,
            The company said in a trad-     was on track, and that it plans
         ing statement that this was        to pay the outstanding €445m
         because of stronger than ex-       5.125% bond that falls due next
         pected overall demand as           year at face value. It will do this
         well as higher MDI component       from its available liquidity.
         margins, most notably in Asia.        When the bonds were paid
            Overall, Huntsman said it       off or redeemed on 15 January
         expects adjusted EBITDA in         the company’s interest bill fell
         the fourth quarter to be 20-       by about $25m/year.

         Growth in online sales
         drives Nike’s H1 success

                                                                                                  O.
                                                                                                 N       .
         Beaverton, Oregon – Nike,          hoe claimed the growth was
         the global footwear giant, gen-
         erated sales of $21.8bn in the
                                            fuelled by compelling innova-
                                            tive product and global brand                                                        K   .
                                                                                                                              UC

                                                                                                        S
         first half of 2020. This is an     momentum.
         increase of 4% on the same            Digital sales for Nike were                                               ST
         period last year.                  up 84% in the second quarter,
                                                                                                                I   NG
            EBIT across the business        and offset temporary corona-                                    T
                                                                                                         ET

                                                                                                      E
         rose by 23.8% to $4.27bn in        virus shutdowns. The move to
         the first half of 2020. Part of    direct-to-consumer sales will                            G
         the growth in EBIT came be-        speed up, according to CFO

                                                                                                     Y
         cause Nike is spending much        Matt Friend.
         less on promotion at sporting         ‘We are focused on moving
                                                                                                                                                        D   .
                                                                                                                                                     SE
         events because of lockdowns.       even faster against our stra-
            The growth in earnings          tegic vision of Consumer Di-
                                                                                                                                             E   A
                                                                                                                                          EL
         continued momentum from            rect Acceleration and fuelling

                                                                                                                                  YR
         the first quarter of the year,     sustainable, long-term growth
         Nike said. CEO John Dona-          and profitability,’ he said.
                                                                                                                               T L
                                                                                                                           EC
           Johns Manville adds HFO-blown SPF                                                                        ER
                                                                                                                       F
                                                                                                                P
           Denver, Colorado – Johns            ‘JM Corbond IV not only
           Manville has added a new         has a lower GWP than JM                      How can different materials be perfectly released after
           spray polyurethane foam to       Corbond III, but also performs               thermal moulding? With the CHT silicones we have
           its range of building insula-    competitively in terms of
                                                                                         developed a versatile range of highly efficient release
           tion products. JM Corbond        R-value, spray yield and cool-
                                                                                         agents for your manufacturing processes. Our
           IV is a closed-cell SPF.         ing requirements when you
                                                                                         conventional, semi-permanent and food-compatible
              The fourth-generation in-     compare it to the previous
           sulation uses an HFO blow-       generation,’ said Yusheng                    release agents have been optimally adjusted for
           ing agent, allowing it to meet   Zhao, senior research chem-                  complex industrial demands. For each corresponding
           increasingly stringent regu-     ist at Johns Manville. ‘The                  application field, they offer outstanding release effects
           lations prohibiting the use of   main difference between the                  and characteristics such as excellent gloss, temperature
           materials with a high global     two products is in the new                   resistance and provide a durable barrier to prevent
           warming potential. The new       HFO blowing agent.’                          sticking, together with food grade compliance according
           SPF was designed to offer           The product is already                    to the U.S. FDA standards.
           similar performance to the       available for shipping within
           company’s older JM Cor-          the US and it will soon be                   More about us at www.cht.com
           bond III product.                available in Canada, too.

                                                                                  11                                                     February/March 2021
                                                                          UT/ERJ 1/2 V.indd 1                                                                   1/29/21 4:37 PM

P008_P011_UT_20210201.indd 11                                                                                                                                      2/9/21 11:27 AM
JULY 28-30, 2021 | SHANGHAI

                                           2021
                                                            THE LEADING
                                                        POLYURETHANES EVENT
                                                       FOR THE CHINESE MARKET
                                                        RETURNS TO SHANGHAI

                              TARGET ONE OF THE LARGEST
                          POLYURETHANE MARKETS IN THE WORLD
                         To reserve a booth or inquire about sponsorships,
                      contact Ed Rich at erich@crain.com / +1 (330) 869-0375.

                                                  PUCHINA.EU

            CONNECT WITH US:               @UTECH_PU      UTECH Polyurethane #PUChina #UTECHAsia
                           Organized by:                           In association with:

UT/ERJ full page.indd 3                                                                            2/8/21 9:34 AM
CHINA NEWSLINES

         PU layer stops tunnels freezing
         Beijing – Civil engineers at        anti-freezing measures, the               nel in northern China where        tional anti-freezing technol-
         the North China University of       tunnels will gradually suffer             there was already visible          ogy that destroys the tunnel
         Technology in Beijing have          damage, potentially affecting             freezing damage. The panels        concrete or drainage system,
         suggested that a PU–corru-          the railway’s safe operation.             were applied overnight, during     the installation of polyure-
         gated steel plate insulation           The Beijing team has de-               the time when the train service    thane-corrugated steel plate
         lining could prevent railway        veloped an alternative lining             was not in operation. The PU       insulation lining is a perma-
         tunnels being damaged by            solution. This comprises cor-             layer was 5cm thick.               nent reinforcement of the
         freezing conditions.                rugated steel plates combined                Field temperature tests         tunnel without destroying the
            Guangyao Cui and Xuelai          with a rigid polyurethane insu-           were made, with the outdoor        existing lining structure and
         Wang explained that tunnel          lation layer, plus an additional          temperature between –18°C          drainage system conditions,’
         construction in cold regions        waterproof layer to protect               and –22°C. The interface be-       they said. They also believe it
         is problematic, particularly in     the PU layer. Using corrugated            tween the rock and the tunnel      could be used to treat damage
         China where seasonal frozen         metal rather than flat sheets             lining was above 0°C at all the    such as cracking, back-voiding
         soil accounts for more than         prevents buckling.                        points where temperature was       and frost-related water leaks.
         half the land area, but railway        In a real-world test, the pan-         measured, so there was no             The work has been pub-
         tunnels are being built in large    els were applied to the inside            freezing damage.                   lished in the journal Science
         numbers. Without adequate           of a 3.7km long, 10m high tun-               ‘Compared to the conven-        Progress.

         PU improves the properties of                                                                                     Disulfide links
                                                                                                                           give malleable,
         fibre-reinforced composites                                                                                       recyclable PU foam
                                                                                                                           Chongqing, China – A
         Shanghai, China – The use of        greatly improve properties.               toughness of the composite is       team at Southwest Uni-
         fibre-reinforced epoxy plastic         The group, led by Yiou                 improved by 48%.                    versity in Chongqing has
         is limited by its brittleness and   Shen, used atomic force mi-                  Their conclusion was that in-    developed a polyurethane
         weak interlaminar properties.       croscopy to show that even                terpenetrating PU/epoxy net-        foam that is both malleable
            A group at Tonji University’s    distribution of the appropriate           works have a positive effect        and thermally recyclable.
         school of aerospace engineer-       amount of PU can improve                  on improving the interfacial           Jian-Bing Zeng and col-
         ing and applied mechanics           the mechanical properties of              and interlaminar properties of      leagues incorporated a dy-
         has been investigating the          the resin. This increases the             plant fibre-reinforced compos-      namic disulfide bond into
         physical and mechanical prop-       strength and stiffness of the             ite materials.                      the PU. When heated, the
         erties of PU/epoxy interpen-        system. They also found that if              The work was published in        disulfide exchange reaction
         etration networks, and found        15% by weight of PU is added              the journal Polymer Compos-         enables the network topol-
         that careful choice of PU can       to the epoxy, the initial fracture        ites.                               ogy of the PU foam to rear-
                                                                                                                           range. The result is a foam
                                                                                                                           that is malleable and can be
           Stellar Q4 performance saves Wanhua 2020 earnings                                                               thermally processed.
                                                                                                                              They claim that the disul-
           Yantai, Shandong – Wan-              The company’s net profit           company raised both sales               fide-containing PU foams
           hua has estimated that its        over the first three quarters of      volume and price for its main           have similar appearance
           2020 annual net profit will       2020 was CNY5.3bn, down               products, and net profit in Q4          and physical properties to
           be CNY9.6bn to CNY10.1bn          32% from a year ago.                  grew at a rate between 91%              regular PU foams. They
           ($1.48–1.56bn). This com-            ‘The global chemical indus-        and 113% from a year ago.’              were fabricated using con-
           pares with CNY10.13bn net         try’s downstream demands                 Its MDI peaked in Novem-             ventional foaming technol-
           profit in 2019, and represents    picked up rapidly at the end          ber and December 2020, by               ogy, with no need for modi-
           a year-on-year drop of up to      of Q3 with strong growth for          which time it was up 50%                fications to the process.
           5%.                               a few regions,’ it said. ‘The         from the September figure.                 It was also possible to
                                                                                                                           recycle the foams into PU
         Dramatic increase in Chinese refrigerator exports                                                                 films via thermal compres-
                                                                                                                           sion moulding. The film
         Beijing – China exported 6.5m       value for November 2020.                  from December 2019 to 8m            could be further repro-
         refrigerators and freezers in          Full-year 2020 numbers                 units, according to the Nation-     cessed several times.
         December 2020, up 59% com-          also rose. The 70m units ex-              al Bureau of Statistics. Full-         ‘The recycled PU films
         pared with December 2019.           ported in 2020 represents an              year production of refrigera-       show excellent and tun-
           The value of these exports        increase of 36% compared                  tors increased 8% from a year       able mechanical properties,
         rose by 63% from a year ago,        with 2019. The value of 2020              ago, to 90m units.                  depending on the compo-
         to $828m, according to Chi-         exports was up by 30% from                   The country’s freezer pro-       sitions of the original PU
         na’s General Administration of      2019, to $8.2bn.                          duction has maintained strong       foams,’ they said. The work
         Customs. This compares with            In December, China’s pro-              momentum throughout 2020.           was published in the jour-
         a 99% year-on-year leap in ex-      duction of refrigerators, ex-             Full-year freezer production        nal Green Chemistry.
         port volume and a 91% leap in       cluding freezers, rose by 8%              was 30m units, up 50%.

                                                                                  13                                              February/March 2021

P013_UT_20210201.indd 13                                                                                                                               2/9/21 11:27 AM
ASIA NEWSLINES

        BPCL polyol project in doubt
         Kochi, Kerala – Planned ex-         disinvestment plan. It will be          Asset Management (DIPAM),          contracted to provide with the
         pansions by Indian state-           up to the buyer to decide the           which manages the govern-          project management consul-
         owned Bharat Petroleum Cor-         future of the project.                  ment 53% stake in the com-         tancy services.
         poration Limited (BPCL) for            The company announced                pany, has kicked off plans for       The plan was to build six
         PEG, MEG and polyols have           an initial investment of INR 111        privatisation.                     new process units, which
         been thrown into doubt as           bn ($1.4bn) for the 170 acre               Initially, DIPAM invited ex-    would be integrated into the
         privatisation looms over the        (69ha) project.                         pressions of interest by 31 July   existing refinery. The units
         future of the specialty petro-         It was scheduled to start            2020, but the pandemic has         were set to produce propyl-
         chemicals plant.                    production by 2024, in the              delayed the process.               ene oxide, propylene glycol,
            The project has been put         second phase of BPCL’s petro-              While the disposal was get-     polyols, ethylene oxide/mo-
         on hold until the Indian gov-       chemical project at Kochi.              ting underway in the middle        no-ethylene glycol, and cu-
         ernment finds a new buyer for          However, India’s Depart-             of last year, chemical engi-       mene. There would also be an
         the refinery as part of strategic   ment of Investment and Public           neering specialist Fluor was       ethylene recovery unit.

                                                                                                     Kool-ex: getting
                                                                                                     the vaccine out
                                                                                                                         PU leather maker
                                                                                                                         Anli set to open
                                                                                                                         Vietnamese plant
                                                                                                                         Binh Duong, Vietnam –
                                                                                                                         Chinese PU faux leather
                                                                                                                         company Anli expects to
                                                                                                                         start partial operation in
                                                                                                                         June 2021 at its new Viet-
                                                                                                                         nam plant. It was originally
                                                                                                                         scheduled to go on stream
                                                                                                                         in April.
                                                                                                                            The plant’s infrastructure
                                                                                                                         is largely complete, and the
                                                                                                                         company has signed con-
                                                                                                                         tracts for the fundamental
                                                                                                                         machinery, as well as two of
                                                                                                                         the facility’s four production
                                                                                                                         lines.
                                                                                                                            The machinery’s delivery
                                                                                                                         and installation has been
                                                                                                                         on hold because of the
                                                                                                                         coronavirus pandemic, Anli

         Kool-ex PU reefers to distribute                                                                                said.
                                                                                                                            The 12,000 km/year PU
                                                                                                                         leather plant was first an-

         coronavirus vaccine in India
               By Satnam Singh
                                                                                                                         nounced in 2017, with $22m
                                                                                                                         investment earmarked.
                                                                                                                            Ground was broken at
                                             cold chain logistics business           in the distribution of other        the site in March 2019.
         Pune, Maharashtra – Poly-           Kool-ex has been engaged to             vaccines under development,            The facility is located
         urethane insulation is playing      transport the vaccine.                  including Covaxin from Bharat       in Binh Duong province’s
         a key role in India’s ambitious        The company has a special-           Biotech, ZyCov-D from Zydus         Vietnam Singapore Indus-
         drive to immunise the whole         ly designed fleet of 400 reefer         Cadilla, and the Russian Sput-      trial Park in the south of the
         population against coronavi-        trucks which are dedicated for          nik V vaccine.                      country, and covers nearly
         rus. The country aims to vac-       the cold chain distribution of             ‘[The trucks] can operate at     26,000m². The plant will
         cinate 300 m people via the         pharmaceuticals.                        temperatures from −25°C to          contain two dry and two
         programme, which started in            ‘We will handle the vaccine          +25°C,’ he said. ‘All the vehi-     wet production lines.
         the middle of January.              transportation from all four            cles are enabled in terms of           Anli also announced that
            The material will help keep      pharma firms, starting with             GPS and temperature tracking        it has become a supplier to
         doses at the required tem-          Covidshield, developed by               to opening of the doors.’           Ikea. It will provide ultra-low
         perature on their journey from      AstraZeneca and produced by                Kool-ex claims to have           VOC PU materials for the
         where they are manufactured         Pune-based Serum Institute of           the largest pharma-dedi-            Swedish furniture giant’s
         to vaccination sites to all over    India (SII),’ said Kunal Aggarw-        cated reefer fleet in India. Its    sofas, beds and chairs, the
         the country.                        al, a director at Kool-Ex Cold          national delivery network cov-      company said.
            Mumbai-headquartered             Chain. It will also be involve          ers more than 800 cities.

           www.utech-polyurethane.com                                           14

P014_P017_UT_20210201.indd 14                                                                                                                          2/9/21 10:55 AM
WORLD NEWSLINES

         Brand new UTECH                                                                                                           MPOB develops
         Southeast Asia set                           Perma-Pipe uses PU in Indian                                                 a palm oil polyol
         to debut 2022                                pipeline insulation project
         Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam –                  Spring, Texas – Perma-Pipe                system to the 30cm diameter,
         Crain Communications, the                    has been awarded a $6.7m                  74km long Mangla crude oil
         publisher of Urethanes Tech-                 contract by Indian company                pipeline. The insulation itself
         nology International, has                    JSIW Infrastructure to insu-              is spray polyurethane foam,
         announced the first UTECH                    late a crude oil pipeline. It is          which is installed in conjunc-
         Southeast Asia exhibition and                part of the construction of a             tion with welded tracer tubes
         conference.                                  refinery and petrochemical                for heat tracing. It is jacketed
            It will be held 26-28 April               complex in Pachpadra Teh-                 with an HDPE casing.               Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – The
         2022. The decision to hold the               sil, Rajasthan. The pipeline                 Work was set to begin at        Malaysian Palm Oil Board has
         meeting was prompted by the                  is being developed by HPCL                Perma-Pipe’s facility in Gand-     developed a palm oil-based
         rapidly expanding market for                 Rajasthan Refinery, a joint               hidham, Gujarat in the first       polyol for floor coverings. It is
         polyurethane products and                    venture between HPCL and                  quarter of 2021, with the first    designed to be used in both
         systems in Southeast Asia,                   the Rajasthani government.                step being the application of      indoor and outdoor sports
         and Vietnam in particular.                      Perma-Pipe will be apply-              an anti-corrosion coating on       flooring applications.
            ‘Vietnam is the obvious                   ing its Trace-Therm insulation            the tracer tubes and bends.           Polyurethane manufactured
         place to expand the UTECH                                                                                                 from the polyol is used as a
         brand beyond our established                                                                                              protective coating on the un-
         markets in Europe, America,                                                                                               derside of stitched artificial
         China and the Middle East/Af-                                                                                             grass. It also has good com-
         rica,’ said UTECH trade show                                                                                              pressive strength, and gives a
         director Debbie Hershfield.                                                                                               cushioning effect.
            The event will be held at the                                                                                             The technology has been
         Saigon Exhibition & Conven-                                                                                               approved by the govern-
         tion Center. A three-day con-                                                                                             ment’s Minister of Plantation
         ference will run alongside the                                                                                            Industries and Commodities
         exhibition.                                                                                                               for commercialisation.

               >>    160 YEARS OF COMBINED EXPERTISE IN POLYURETHANE AND
                     A GLOBAL NETWORK 100% COMMITTED TO OUR CUSTOMERS

                                                       Machines, plants and technologies for
                                                        highly efficient polyurethane processing

                    The specialists in high-quality
                    roll forming plants

                                                      Extensive system solutions for the
                                                         production of sandwich panels

                                                         >> COMPOSITES & ADVANCED                  >> RAW MATERIAL STORAGE &            >> MOULDED FOAM LINES
               >> METERING MACHINES                         APPLICATIONS                              BLEND SYSTEMS                     >> ROLL FORMING LINES
               >> SANDWICH PANEL LINES                   >> SLABSTOCK LINES                        >> TECHNICAL INSULATION LINES        >> 360˚ SERVICE

                www.hennecke-group.com

            UT/ERJ 1/2 H.indd 1                                                                                                                      1/29/21 4:36 PM
                                                                                           15                                               February/March 2021

P014_P017_UT_20210201.indd 15                                                                                                                                     2/9/21 10:55 AM
Saigon Exhibition & Convention Center | Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

                           NEW EVENT!
                           Crain Communications and Urethanes Technology
                           International are pleased to announce the launch
                           of UTECH Southeast Asia, a new exhibition and
                           conference for the polyurethane industry.

           ORGANISED BY:                                 IN ASSOCIATION WITH:

                                      Booth space available to reserve now!
                             Contact Ed Rich, UTECH Sales Director, at erich@crain.com
                                  or call +1 (330) 869-0375 for more information.

                                    UTECHSEASIA.COM
                    CONNECT WITH US:      @UTECH_PU            UTECH Polyurethane    #UTECHSEA

UT/ERJ full page.indd 5                                                                          2/8/21 9:34 AM
WORLD NEWSLINES

         Sales and plant additions                                                                                       Electrostatic face
                                                                                                                         masks made with

         boost Vitafoam Nigeria                                                                                          polyurethane
                                                                                                                         Singapore – Cori Inno-
                                                                                                                         lab has crowdfunded a
         Lagos – Vitafoam Nigeria,         the company’s annual report              iary, set up a systems house         rechargeable facemask
         which makes flexible PU foam      said. ‘This subsidiary has com-          in Nigeria, with help from the       on Kickstarter. The mask
         in west Africa, generated         menced export of products to             United Nations Development           uses PU foam in its filter-
         group sales of NGN23.4bn          Guinea whilst strengthening              Programme. The new systems           ing system.
         ($5.9m) in 2020. This is up       collaboration with the gov-              house specialises in formula-            The outer layer uses
         5.41% on the previous financial   ernment of Sierra Leone and              tions based on methyl formate.       reticulated PU to slow
         year. Gross profit across the     other humanitarian agencies              It also supplies other group         particles by forcing them
         business increased by 25% to      towards mass production and              companies with non-flamma-           through 3D maze of
         NGN11 bn in 2020.                 distribution of quality mat-             ble adhesives and pre-poly-          channels. This removes
            The company’s sales are        tresses in Sierra Leone.’                mers on a just-in-time basis,        2.5µm-10µm particles.
         almost exclusively within Ni-        Vitafoam Nigeria splits out           and has developed hand sani-             Any particles that get
         geria. It has a large number of   the operating profit for its foam        tisers and handwash.                 through the foam are
         subsidiaries in the country, as   products business. In 2020,                 The Vitapur business, which       slowed and trapped in a
         well as one in Sierra Leone. It   this increased to NGN6.5m                has Saip machinery, also pur-        mechanical/electrostatic
         discontinued its operations in    from NGN4.5bn in 2019, a rise            chased a new mobile plant. It        filter. This is recharged by
         Ghana in 2019.                    of 44%. It also disclosed that           has stated that it wants to gain     rubbing .
            The company tried to sell      profit from non-Nigerian oper-           market share in a number of              The two layers are
         the Sierra Leone business         ations rose by 9%, rising from           other industries.                    rubbed together to re-
         in 2019, but decided in Sep-      NGN563m to NGN615m be-                      Separately, Vitafoam Nige-        charge the electrostatic
         tember 2020 to keep making        tween 2019 and 2020.                     ria has set up Vitaparts Nigeria     filter. The inventors claim
         foam there. ‘[The plant is mak-      Also during the 2020 finan-           to make and sell oil filters. This   the masks remove 96% of
         ing] products of a high-quality   cial year, Vitapur, the compa-           is likely to begin operation in      0.3µm particles.
         standard with good margin,’       ny’s rigid polyurethane subsid-          the second quarter of 2021.

                                                                               17                                              February/March 2021

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EUROPE NEWSLINES

         Bosnian producer to invest                                                                                       Sika launches

         in new PU panel factory
                                                                                                                          Purform PU
                                                                                                                          technology
         Zivinice, Bosnia – Bosnian           north of the country. The site          1996, and makes roof and fa-        Dudingen, Switzerland –
         construction materials maker         is within the town’s Ciljuge 2          cade panels.                        Sika has developed a new
         Disk Zivinice has announced          industrial zone.                          The investment will allow         polyurethane technology
         plans to build a new plant for          It will create about 60 new          the company to diversify its        which it will market under
         the manufacture of PU panels.        manufacturing jobs. Construc-           product portfolio with the          the Purform brand. The
         It will invest about BAM15m          tion is expected to be com-             addition of PU panels. While        company, which specialises
         ($9.3m) in the project.              plete by the end of 2021, with          most of its output is destined      in adhesives and sealants
            The factory will be located       manufacturing likely to start           for the domestic market, the        for the building and auto-
         at the company’s headquar-           the following year, the compa-          company also exports prod-          motive sectors, is initially
         ters in Zivinice, a town with a      ny said.                                ucts, largely to western Eu-        integrating Purform into its
         population of 60,000 in the             Disk Zivinice was founded            rope.                               Sikaflex product range. The
                                                                                                                          technology is also being
                                                                                                                          used in liquid applied mem-

         ISCC Plus certificate for Krefeld MDI                                                                            branes.
                                                                                                                              Purform     prepolymers
                                                                                                                          have ultra-low free mono-
         Krefeld, Germany – Covestro                                                     ‘With the gradual conver-        meric diisocyanate con-
         has won ISCC Plus certifica-                                                 sion of our production to re-       tent. The company claims
         tion for the MDI it produces at                                              newable raw materials, we are       the products have an im-
         Krefeld using aniline made in                                                getting closer to our vision of     proved performance pro-
         its Antwerp plant. ISCC, or in-                                              circularity,’ said Klaus Schafer,   file. Products using the new
         ternational sustainability and                                               Covestro’s CTO.                     technology can be extreme-
         carbon certification, is an inter-                                              Sucheta Govil, the compa-        ly weather resistant, it said,
         nationally recognised sustain-                                               ny’s chief commercial officer,      and can withstand expo-
         ability certificate for biomass                                              said the development will help      sure to UV light outdoors
         and bioenergy.                                                               customers reduce their own          for longer.
            Covestro received its first                                               carbon footprint.                       Sika has made invest-
         shipment of ISCC Plus-certi-                                                    Govil added that the prod-       ments in the associated
         fied phenol from Borealis in                                                 uct is a drop-in replacement        production facilities at its
                                              Govil: smaller carbon footprint
         October. This is manufactured                                                for hydrocarbon-derived MDI         Dudingen site. It added that
         using renewable hydrocar-            stream chemical products, in-           that can be used in manu-           the new products are in line
         bons from Neste. Phenol is           cluding the aniline that is used        facturing processes without         with the upcoming stricter
         a precursor to many down-            to manufacture MDI.                     modifications.                      Reach regulations.

           Plixxent signs up as               Dow’s Herman Motmans                                                        News in Brief
           PU Europe member
           Brussels – Plixxent, a Euro-
                                              elected ISOPA president                                                     Western Europe’s
                                                                                                                          car registrations
           pean systems house, has            Brussels – Herman Motmans
           joined PU Europe, the EU           has been elected as the new                                                 plunge in January
           trade association for the          president of ISOPA, the Euro-                                               Oxford, UK – Western Eu-
           PU/PIR insulation industry.        pean Diisocyanate & Polyol                                                  ropean car registrations
              Juan Cirujeda, Plixxent’s       Producers’ Association.                                                     were down to 760,000
           managing director, said his            Motmans, senior product di-                                             units in January 2021.
           company was joining the            rector at Dow Polyurethanes,                                                This represents a 26%
           association, ‘because the          succeeds Mike Fowles, who is                                                decline, compared with
           PU industry will be facing         vice president for global sup-                                              1.02m sold in January
           challenges and also oppor-         ply chain at Huntsman. Chris-                                               2020, according to data
           tunities in the future’.           topher Mets, VP of business                                                 from LMC Automotive.
              He said some of the op-         management for isocyanates                                                     In Germany, sales were
                                                                                      Motmans takes the helm at ISOPA
           portunities for PU/PIR insu-       in Europe at BASF, is the new                                               down 31.1% at 169,754
           lation will be reducing emis-      vice president                          and deep expertise to ISOPA’s       units. Sales were hit as
           sions through building and             Jorg Palmersheim, ISOPA/            leadership team.’                   a VAT reduction on new
           cold chain insulation.             ALIPA secretary general, said:            Palmersheim and the mem-          vehicle purchases in De-
              Plixxent was formed from        ‘I am very pleased to welcome           bership thanked the outgoing        cember 2020 ended.
           a number of systems hous-          Herman as our new president,            Fowles for championing the             In the UK, sales were
           es that were spun out by           and Christopher as our new              organisation’s work with its        down 39.5% year on year
           Covestro in 2019.                  vice-president. They bring in-          stakeholders to promote the         to 90,200 in January.
                                              valuable industry experience            highest standards .

           www.utech-polyurethane.com                                            18

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EUROPE NEWSLINES

         Lanxess launches energy-                                                                                        BTC Europe to
                                                                                                                         distribute BASF
         efficient PU elastomer                                                                                          PU ingredients
                                                                                                                         Monheim am Rhein,
                                                                                                                         Germany – BASF has an-
         Cologne, Germany – Lanx-           company’s Vibracure A250                ager at the Lanxess urethane         nounced BTC Europe as
         ess has developed a new            hardener. It claims that mate-          systems business unit.               the new distributor for its
         Adiprene elastomer. The 95         rials made with this combina-              Because the polyurethane          aromatic isocyanates and
         Shore A hardness elastomer         tion of materials can maintain          elastomers generate less heat        polyurethanes for PU ap-
         is said to show low heat build-    their properties over an out-           when they are being used,            plications in Europe.
         up in rollers that move quickly    standing temperature range.             it takes less energy to move            It covers the polyure-
         and are highly stressed.              ‘Our elastomers generate             them. These energy savings           thane ingredients sold un-
            The material is made using      less heat when subjected to             can feed directly into the           der the Lupranat, Lupra-
         Adiprene PP1095H, a poly-          frequent, rapid deformation,            machinery in which they are          nol and Lupraphen brand
         ester-based pre-polymer ter-       therefore they do not overheat          found, the company said, such        names. All BASF’s PU
         minated with p-phenylene           in continuous use,’ said Ian            as forklift trucks, lifts, escala-   basic products will now
         diisocyanate (pPDI), plus the      Laskowitz, applications man-            tors and other applications.         be available from a single
                                                                                                                         source in Europe.
                                                                                                                            ‘The new agreement
         Perstorp acquires a
         new credit facility
                                            Kingspan appoints head of                                                    enables us to react to the
                                                                                                                         wish of our customers of

         Stockholm – Perstorp, which
         makes polyols for polyure-
                                            compliance, director retires                                                 providing the entire prod-
                                                                                                                         uct portfolio from a single
                                                                                                                         source,’ said Oliver Pe-
         thanes, has gained a SEK600m       Kingscourt, Ireland – Jim                  Another change to senior          ter, account manager for
         ($73.6m) revolving credit facil-   Carolan has been appointed              management was announced             BASF’s European isocy-
         ity. It is backed by Sweden’s      as Kingspan’s group head of             at the end of 2020 when Peter        anate business. ‘We see
         Export Credit Agency (EKN),        compliance & certification.             Wilson retired from his posi-        BTC as a strong partner
         which is guaranteeing 75% of       He will report directly to CEO          tion as divisional managing di-      to supply our customers
         the loan.                          Gene Murtagh.                           rector of the company’s insu-        in an optimal manner. BTC
            The arrangement will pro-         ‘Carolan will be responsi-            lation boards business, and as       will join our direct custom-
         tect Perstorp from the current     ble for ensuring a rigorous             a director of the company. He        er support as a distributor
         market environment, and pro-       approach to certification, test-        has been replaced at the helm        for packaged goods.’
         vide liquidity to capture growth   ing and product compliance              of the business by Alan Law-            Part of the BASF group,
         opportunities once conditions      across all Group divisions,’            lor, who was previously the          BTC Europe is the com-
         improve, the company said.         the company said in a recent            division’s CFO and managing          pany’s European sales
            CEO Jan Secher said his         announcement.                           director of Kingspan Insulation      organisation. It supplies
         company has, relative to its         Before taking the role, Caro-         in southern Europe.                  about 6000 products to
         size, one of the best liquidity    lan was operations director in             He will now have global re-       SMEs from a network of
         positions among European           the company’s insulated pan-            sponsibility for the insulation      11 regional offices.
         chemical companies.                els division.                           boards division.

            UT/ERJ 1/3 H.indd 1                                                                                                          2/9/21 12:30 PM
                                                                               19                                              February/March 2021

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