News from Notch Consulting, Inc.

Cabot Corporation announced that Nicholas Cross, executive vice president and president of the Performance Chemicals segment and Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, will step down from these roles at Cabot for personal reasons. Mr. Cross joined Cabot in 2009 as vice president and general manager for the EMEA region and was appointed executive vice president and president, Performance Chemicals segment in 2014. During his tenure, he held a variety of leadership positions, including president of the Specialty Fluids segment.

“I have really enjoyed my time with Cabot, and am grateful to have spent nearly 10 years with this great company. I am proud of the Company’s accomplishments during my tenure and this will stand out as a career highlight for me,” said Cross. “I see exceptionally strong opportunities within the Performance Chemicals segment to accelerate growth and Cabot is uniquely positioned to capture this growth.”

Mr. Cross will remain with the company through the end of January 2019, providing advisory and transition support.

Read the full press release here.

On July 17, Tokai Carbon announced it was raising the selling price of carbon black as follows:

1．Price revision
　(a)　Scope: Carbon Black of all grades
　(b)　Effective date: August 1, 2018 (delivery base)
　(c)　Amount: 11.5 Japanese Yen/kg price increase (US$0.10/kg)

2．Background
The escalating raw material oil price of carbon black causes the significant cost increase. This increase is difficult to absorb only by our production cost reduction, measures and the price increase is necessary to ensure Tokai Carbon to maintain the stable supply of our high quality products and services.

Rubber & Plastics News published an editorial on current conditions in the carbon black industry, highlighting some of the recent developments in the sector. Here is the link.

On July 17, Birla Carbon (Marietta, Georgia and Mumbai, India) announced expansions in multiple regions to support customers in the growing carbon black market. Significant debottlenecking at Birla Carbon’s factories in Egypt and Italy before the end of Q3 2018; restarting a production line in Thailand by the end of Q4 2018; and installing of new production lines in India with a start date of Q4 2019 will enable it to raise its capacities considerably. In total, Birla Carbon will be adding 150,000 tons per year of new capacity on line over the next 18 months. Furthermore, Birla plans to add another 120,000 tons per year at its newest plant in China, though no completion date was announced.

In a press release announcing the projects, Dr. Santrupt Misra, Birla Carbon’s Chief Executive Officer, said “Birla Carbon is committed to supporting our customers’ growing needs in all geographies. Implementation of these projects are underway after a series of development initiatives were identified to meet market requirements.” He further shares, “We have leveraged our latest technology to ensure the highest quality products and most reliable operations.”

Adds John Loudermilk, Chief Operating Officer, “The new capacities will enable us to serve a range of segments including production capability for high value, differentiated products in the tire, rubber goods, and specialty markets.”

Last week, Orion Engineered Carbons announced that it will implement price increases on all Specialty Carbon Blacks worldwide beginning September 1st, 2018. According to the company, these actions are due to the continuously rising costs for raw materials and freight. Increases will vary depending on the product grade, sales region and end market.