Emerald completes plant expansion in The Netherlands

Emerald Kalama Chemical, a business group of Emerald Performance Materials, has announced the completion of its latest expansion at its facility in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The company commissioned a new flaker production unit for its Purox B pure grade benzoic acid. The 20kt capacity expansion is designed to support increased market demand for the product in the food and beverage, pharmaceutical, coatings and other industrial segments.

Emerald Kalama Chemical has long been a recognized leader in the benzoate business, focused on benzoic acid, benzaldehyde, benzyl alcohol and sodium benzoate, which is manufactured in Rotterdam, The Netherlands and Kalama, WA, USA. The company is also known for its downstream derivatives and speciality materials based on these core products such as its K-Flex phthalate-free line of plasticisers and coalescents, and Kalama line of aroma chemicals.

FDA-approved and GRAS-classified, benzoic acid is used in a wide range of applications. Along with sodium and potassium salts, it has been extensively used for years as an effective preservative to control microbial growth, such as yeast, bacteria, mould and fungi, in various applications. Benzoic acid also provides a range of functions in industrial applications. Most importantly, it serves as a key intermediate for synthesis of a wide range of chemicals, a chain terminator in the production of alkyd resins, and as an additive to synthetic polyester fibers, HDPE filaments and thermoplastic elastomers. Other applications include its use as a corrosion inhibitor in automotive cooling liquids and as an additive in down-hole mud drilling.