News In Brief

BASF announces co-operation with HP Indigo

BASF has recently entered a strategic collaboration with HP Indigo, the world’s leading manufacturer of digital printing presses. Both companies will collaborate to develop water-based adhesive solutions for flexible packaging that are specially tailored for the requirements of the HP Indigo ElectroInk process, a highly flexible and fast digital printing process.

Covestro lifts force majeure for polymeric MDI

Covestro is lifting the declared force majeure for polymeric MDI (methylene diphenyl diisocyanate) in the Europe, Middle East, Africa (EMEA) region with immediate effect. On April 25, Covestro had declared force majeure, due to an unforseeable production problem at its site in Brunsbüttel, Germany.

Lonza announces price increase for biocides

Lonza has announced a global price increase for biocidal products across the market fields of plastics, leather, textiles, metal working fluids, paints, coatings and inks. As a consequence of the persistent rise in operating, manufacturing and regulatory costs, Lonza will make a 10% price increase. to all biocidal product lines globally.

Sika invests in larger site in Kazakhstan

Sika has relocated its concrete admixture and mortar production in Almaty, in the south of Kazakhstan, to a larger site in the 1.7M population city. Aside from the booming Kazakh market, the plant will also serve the construction sector in the neighbouring country of Kyrgyzstan to the south.

PPG earns John Deere Award

PPG announced that it was named Supplier of the Year and earned recognition as a Partner-level supplier in the John Deere Achieving Excellence Program for 2016. Partner-level status is Deere & Company’s highest supplier rating.

Wacker strengthens its presence in Southeast Asia

Wacker Chemie AG is expanding its presence in Southeast Asia by opening a technical centre for construction and adhesives applications in Indonesia’s capital Jakarta. The technical facility serves as a development and testing laboratory for dispersible polymer powders and dispersions, which are used as binders for the regional building, paint, coatings and adhesives industries.

PLS endorses Konica Minolta sheet-fed press

Konica Minolta has confirmed that PLS Print Logistic Services GmbH in Markkleeberg, Germany, is the latest commercial customer for its AccurioJet KM-1 UV digital sheet-fed press.

PLS, a subsidiary of the American online printing service OvernightPrints, was announced as the first beta site for the press a year ago. Now it has been revealed that the long-standing Konica Minolta customer is building huge new business opportunities with this new system.

Fluence Analytics raises Series A financing

Fluence Analytics, formerly Advanced Polymer Monitoring Technologies (APMT), announced it has raised a Series A funding round led by Energy Innovation Capital (EIC), a venture capital firm.

ICS Cool Energy achieves carbon trust accreditation

ICS Cool Energy has been added to the Carbon Trust’s Green Business Directory as an accredited supplier, providing independent recognition of the temperature control specialist’s skills and services. The Carbon Trust Accredited Supplier Scheme recognises high quality energy efficient equipment and renewable technology suppliers.

Indestructible Paint Japanese distribution

Indestructible Paint Ltd has announced an enhancement of its business and services in Japan through a distribution agreement with Todo International. The specialist coatings manufacturer has confirmed a distribution agreement with Todo’s Japanese facility – the first such capability agreed by the Birmingham-based company in the country. The company believes that by close co-operation with a specialist distributor, its links with a wide range of aerospace component manufacturers in Japan will be strengthened.

AkzoNobel partners with MSLGROUP

As part of its strategy to accelerate growth and further strengthen its portfolio of leading brands, AkzoNobel has appointed MSLGROUP as its global communications and public affairs agency partner.

MSL will operate from a global team based in London and via local offices and affiliates in key countries and regions where AkzoNobel operates. Specific areas of support will include brand strategy, public relations, public affairs and digital strategy.

AkzoNobel and Atul to start MCA production

AkzoNobel and chemicals manufacturing company Atul have formally agreed the JV partnership announced last year for the production of monochloroacetic acid (MCA) in India. The companies will establish a new plant at Atul’s facility in Gujarat by first quarter 2019, with each partner holding a 50% stake in the JV, to be registered as ‘ANAVEN’.

BASF expands its offer for innovation projects

BASF will combine its competencies in design, trend research and simulation in the plastics division to improve its global offering for joint innovations with customers. Depending on the type of project, the company will offer the material consultancy of its designfabrik, the simulation tool Ultrasim and the trend research know-how in a one-stop-shop solution and also physically bundle these functions at one location per region.

In order to cluster the functions at the Ludwigshafen site, BASF will rebuild a former bomb shelter outside the site and bring in modern architectural elements.

First graphene paints available in UK

The first commercially available graphene-infused paints in the UK are on sale from The Graphene Company, distributor of the Graphenstone range of paints and materials.

Sourced from pure carbon, it is the strongest material now known to science. Graphene’s inclusion in paints, coatings and other building materials exponentially enhances hardness and coverage.