News from Notch Consulting, Inc.

Last week, Cabot announced the completion of two projects — an acquisition and an expansion — that will extend its global footprint in black masterbatch and compounds and increase manufacturing capacity for these materials.

Cabot recently completed the acquisition of Tech Blend, a leading North American producer of black masterbatches, which will now operate as Cabot Plastics Canada, LP a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cabot Corporation within Cabot’s global Specialty Compounds business.

Cabot’s Specialty Compounds business has completed the installation of a new line at its manufacturing facility in Pepinster, Belgium. This strategic investment will increase capacity and enhance production capabilities for plastic formulations, including conductive and engineering thermoplastics formulations. With this additional capacity, the Pepinster site is now the largest masterbatch and compounds manufacturing facility in Cabot’s network.

Last week, Cabot Corporation announced a price increase for carbon black products sold by its Reinforcement Materials segment in North America, effective June 1, 2018, or as customer contracts allow. Cabot Corporation is increasing prices for all Vulcan, Sterling, Regal, Spheron, and Propel carbon black products by $0.045/lb except for Vulcan XC-72, Vulcan XC-72 R and Sterling C carbon blacks. In addition, prices will increase by 4% for Black Pearls, Monarch, CRX, Vulcan XC-72, Vulcan XC-72 R and Sterling C carbon black products. Cabot said that the price increase is necessary to address persistently rising costs associated with the manufacturing of quality products, regulatory and environmental compliance, packaging, and logistics.

This week, Orion Engineered Carbons announced it is raising prices for rubber blacks in North America effective June 1. Invoice prices for rubber carbon blacks will be adjusted by an average of $121 per metric ton, as contracts permit. The company pointed to “increasing operating and logistic expenses and the costs required to maintain service levels” as the main factors driving the price hike. The firm also noted that the price changes would support “substantial investments” in its North American rubber carbon black production.

Orion Engineered Carbons S.A. has signed a contract with Haldor Topsoe to install Topsoe’s sustainable emissions control technology, SNOX, in its carbon black production plant in Ivanhoe, Louisiana.

Prior to selecting the technology, Orion carried out in-depth analyses of the technology since 2014, including visiting the existing Haldor Topsoe plants and testing the concept at one of its manufacturing facilities.

“Orion is committed to environmentally friendly operation of its facilities,” said Jack Clem, CEO of Orion. “Our extensive research determined that the Haldor Topsoe SNOX system, suitably adapted by our technical teams over the last several years, was the most dependable and cost effective means of meeting or exceeding the requirements we now face.”

Under the agreement, Haldor Topsoe will be responsible for offering engineering, license, proprietary equipment, spare parts, catalyst, and future supervision tasks at the time of commissioning and start-up.

Orion’s SNOX plant is set to become fully operational by April 2021.

Read the full press release here.