Chemtura Organometallics confidently enters 2015

Although Chemtura Organometallics Specialties (OMS), has manufactured organometallics for more than 50 years, a period of change over the past several years challenged the company to rethink the way it approaches the market.

Embracing the positive promise of this change – OMS, one of two businesses composing Chemtura’s Industrial Engineered Products segment – embarked on a series of recent infrastructure investments, enhanced its portfolio of world-class products, and made a renewed commitment to delivering customer value. The result is an OMS that confidently enters 2015 as a leaner business, better aligned with current and emerging customer needs and that is an even stronger global partner for the manufacture, marketing and development of speciality organometallic products.

In the past several years, Chemtura has made organometallics a focal point for future growth and thus has invested nearly US$80M in OMS capabilities and infrastructure, including:

– Expansion of Axion® Methylaluminoxane (MAO) production in Bergkamen, Germany fully backwardly integrated with new highly efficient TMA manufacturing lines. MAO is a main component of single site catalyst products that enable the customisation of polymer properties. These superior performing products allow manufacturers who use MAO-based catalyst systems in their products to better differentiate themselves in the marketplace; as a result, the market demand for MAO continues to grow.
– Expansion of a specialised container fleet engineered to safely transport organometallics.
– Installation of remotely operated isolated loading bays for organometallics products at the Mapleton, Illinois, USA facility. These specialised areas enhance the safety of handling these products.
– Purchase of the remaining 50% stake in its joint venture DayStar Materials, LLC, a South Korean manufacturer and marketer of high-purity metal organic precursors for the rapidly growing LED market,.
– Realigned local management structure in Bergkamen, Germany to allow for increased responsiveness to customer requests and the flexibility to adapt to individual customer requirements and industry trends.

"The past several years have seen great change at Chemtura, and for our Organometallics business and its customers that change will be very positive,” said Alan Swiech, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Organometallics, Chemtura. "We now have the infrastructure in place and the organisational flexibility to meet customer needs and adapt to emerging industry needs. In addition, our refined portfolio of production-proven and next-generation products and our renewed commitment to our customers, makes Chemtura Organometallics a preferred supplier to the most critical industry segments.”

Chemtura Organometallics’ speciality products are used in polymer production, synthesis of fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals, in processes for production of semiconductor devices and photovoltaic modules, in glass coating and in automotive anti-corrosion coatings. More than 30% of OMS’ sales come from new products, up from just over 10% three years ago. OMS also expanded its new product portfolio last year with the full acquisition of DayStar which specialises in high-tech organometallics including those used for chemical vapor deposition in the manufacture of high-brightness LEDs. In addition, the recent enhancements in production capabilities across our manufacturing sites has allowed the company to maintain the superior quality of its time-tested products, as exemplified by a 100% customer quality approval rate of products manufactured post-upgrade.

Chemtura is committed to Responsible Care®, the chemical industry’s voluntary initiative to protect the environment; ensure the safety and security of its operations; and safeguard the health and safety of employees and the communities in which the company operates. One recent example of this commitment is a 2014 initiative at the Berkgamen, Germany facility to reduce the amount of waste generated during the manufacture of Axion® Tri Methyl Aluminum (TMA), an important component in the manufacture of next generation organometallic products. Through a combination of recycling and by-product recovery efforts, the facility was able remove from the waste stream the equivalent of over 80% of waste generated at the TMA facility.

Highly efficient, more focused and committed to delivering customer value is a fitting description of the transformed Chemtura Organometallics of 2015 that now has the infrastructure and product portfolio to safely and sustainably meet customer needs well into the future.