News from Notch Consulting, Inc.

April 30, 2012

Triton to sell German coal tar chemical firm Ruetgers

Filed under: Carbon Black — Notch @ 6:25 am

Triton has started a sales process for Rütgers Group, a Germany-based manufacturer of chemical raw materials made from coal tar, according to market sources. Goldman Sachs is advising. The private equity firm bought Rütgers from Evonik Industries in late 2007, in a buyout supported through a €259 million, all-senior financing. Mediobanca arranged the facilities, which saw 11 banks join the syndicate.

Last year, Triton along with Rhône Capital acquired the carbon black business of Evonik Industries, which subsequently changed its name to Orion Engineered Carbons.

April 27, 2012

Smithers Rapra announces Carbon Black World 2012 conference in San Diego

Filed under: Carbon Black — Notch @ 5:31 am

Smithers Rapra has announced the dates and location of the Carbon Black World 2012 conference, which will take place November 7-9, 2012, at the Omni San Diego Hotel inSan Diego, CA. This is the 12th session of this biennial conference, which provides a comprehensive look at the most up-to-the-minute information and developments in the carbon black marketplace. According to Smithers Rapra, the conference’s expert presenters will identify strategies and market trends by region and sector, examine emerging technologies, discuss the impact of international regulatory issues, and delve into technical trends in major markets such as tires, industrial rubber, and new end-use applications.

This conference was originally hosted by Intertech, but on April 2, IntertechPira and its products and services were fully integrated into the Smithers Group. As a result of this integration, Carbon Black World now falls into the portfolio of Smithers Rapra.

More information is available here.

Notch updates precipitated silica report

Filed under: Silica — Notch @ 5:01 am

Notch Consulting has published the latest edition of the Silica Market Update, a biannual report on the precipitated silica industry. The April 2012 issue is 31 pages with 10 tables detailing silica demand by region, market, and application, current pricing by application and region (US, EU, China), nameplate production capacity by company and country, and recent and proposed capacity expansion projects. The report includes a separate Excel spreadsheet providing extensive supplemental data, including demand by market and application, as well as detailed regional breakdowns by country.

The global precipitated silica market saw good growth in 2011 despite a relatively weak 4Q 2011 caused by a weaker demand from truck tires in Europe. Global demand reached 2 million tonnes, with year-on-year gains of close to 6%. Despite the slowdown in the fourth quarter, Notch expects silica demand to remain robust in 2012, driven largely by a solid outlook in the motor vehicle market, which should drive silica demand in tire, non-tire, battery separator, and paint markets, as well as stable growth in oral care and nutrition/health applications (e.g., food, ag feed, cosmetics).

Looking forward, suppliers are investing heavily in new capacity to meet future demand, and the Silica Market Update details 22 recent or proposed capacity expansion projects. All major suppliers, including Evonik Industries, Rhodia, PPG Industries, Huber Engineered Materials, and OSC, have either recently completed or are in the process of expansions. The solid prospects for silica is attracting new producers; in particular, several of China’s major carbon black producers are diversifying into silica production as well, including Jiangxi Black Cat Carbon Black, Longxing Chemical Industry, and Shanndong Jinneng Science & Technology. These projects, along with several very ambitious expansion projects by established Chinese silica producers, has raised the specter of overcapacity over the next two to four years. However, it is not clear yet how much of this new announced capacity will be built or on what schedule.

Here is an overview of the Silica Market Update. To order the report, contact Notch Consulting Group (information in sidebar to right).

April 26, 2012

Tire recycler Scutum Capital listed on German stock market

Filed under: Tire Recycling — Notch @ 6:59 am

Munich-based Scutum Capital AG, a tire recycler, reports that it is now listed on the Open Market of the stock exchange in Düsseldorf. The move follows the successful test of its Pyrolyx-Carbon Black, a recycled carbon black, following the startup and trial run of its first industrial reactor line in Drunen, Netherlands in March 2012.

Niels Raeder, Member of the Board of Scutum Capital AG said in a press release, “The different test results are now available and they confirm our expectations of the Pyrolyx-technology. All of the recycled products met at least the quality of the successful test results of the materials achieved by the Pyrolyx-pilot-reactor in 2010.” Beginning in May, the company expects to begin supplying samples of its recycled products to leading international carbon black-, rubber- and tire-manufacturers for further product- and application-tests.

Here is the press release.

April 25, 2012

Cancarb recertified to International Standards

Filed under: Carbon Black — Notch @ 7:04 am

Cancarb Limited, the world’s leading producer of medium thermal black, reports that  it has been successfully recertified to the ISO 9001:2008, ISO 14001:2004, and BS OHSAS 18001:2007 standards by the Canadian General Standards Board.

According to Dave Petrie, Cancarb’s President and COO, “For many years, Cancarb has operated with a single integrated management system designed to fulfill the requirements of these three international standards.” The audit confirms that the company successfully meets these three standards.

Fatal explosion at Mitsui plant may affect resorcinol supplies

Filed under: Rubber Chemicals — Notch @ 6:00 am

Mitsui Chemicals reports that on Sunday an explosion and fire occurred at its chemical plant at Iwakuni-Ohtake Works in Japan. One worker is dead and another 21 people have been injured, two seriously. The plant produces resorcinol and the company is not yet able to say how the explosion will affect supplies of resorcinol and related chemicals.

The explosion occurred at 2:15 a.m. local time on Sunday April 22 in the resorcinol plant and the resulting fire spread to the cymene plant and utility piping rack, causing a second explosion in the resorcinol plant tank at 8:05 a.m. local time. Mitsui reports that the fire was brought under control at all plants by 17:15 local time. The cause of the explosion is still under investigation.

Here is the company press release on the incident.

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