Page 6 - 201902 SCA February 2019 Volume 56 Number 1

The GLoBAL Panorama

Recent industry news and product announcements

Edited by Terry Knowles
THIS EDITION: ACQUISITIoNS & AGREEMENTS • INDUSTRY & INVESTMENTS • TECHNoLoGY & PRoDUCTS
PAINTS & CoATINGS • STUDIES & SURVEYS
ACQUISITIoNS & AGREEMENTS Covestro is one of the top three producers of
TPUs. The TPU business is part of the Coatings,
AkzoNobel acquires in Malaysia Adhesives, Specialties (CAS) segment and
AkzoNobel has strengthened its business in Asia accounted for approximately 10% of the segment
by acquiring all of the shares in Colourland Paints, sales in 2017. The global TPU industry looks to be
a home-grown paints and coatings manufacturer growing at a long-term average of 6% p.a., which
with wide distribution across Malaysia. The Covestro has outpaced with double-digit core
acquired business has about 200 employees and volume growth per year in the past three years.
a factory at Johor Bahru. It supplies to a network DIC Corporation (DIC) will continue to support
of about a thousand retailers. The transaction the success of DCP with its industry network,
includes all relevant technologies, patents, strong brand name, and as a reliable local partner.
trademarks and assets of Colourland Paints. n Production and R&D by DCP will continue at the
DIC facility in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, getting
Merck signs up for Chinese support from DIC such as supplying feedstocks and
developments providing services on site. n
Merck has signed an agreement with the
Guangzhou Development District on innovation
development in southern China. Further to this
agreement, Merck will establish an innovation
hub in Guangzhou which is scheduled to open in
September 2019.
“China is a major innovation hotspot and one
of our most important growth markets. We are
now creating a strong platform for Merck and our
partners to drive innovation in Southern China. At
the same time, we are strengthening our footprint
in this vibrant ecosystem of innovation,” said Kai
Beckmann, Member of the Executive Board of Photo credit: Covestro
Merck and CEO Performance Materials, at the
signing ceremony in Guangzhou. n
Mr Kaoru Ino, Representative Director, President and CEO of
Covestro becomes majority partner DIC Corporation (r) and Dr Markus Steilemann, CEO of Covestro,
in TPU venture agreed on another milestone in more than 18 years of strong
partnership. The two companies partner each other in many parts
Covestro has increased its holding in the DIC of Covestro’s Coatings, Adhesives and Specialties business.
Covestro Polymer Ltd (DCP) joint venture from 50
to 80%. DCP, established as a 50/50 joint venture
in the year 2000, is a leading company in the INDUSTRY & INVESTMENTS
Japanese TPU industry. The investment is part of More red pigment capabilities at Lanxess
Covestro’s expansion of its global TPU business. Lanxess, through a targeted de-bottlenecking at its
Closure of the deal is planned for early in the Krefeld-Uerdingen site, has increased the product
second quarter of 2019, subject to approval from availability of its Bayferrox® and Colortherm®
the relevant authority. micronized red pigments by more than 5,000 tonnes
per year.
“In the paints and coatings industry and also
for plastics applications, we see a continuously
About our contributor... rising demand for high quality pigments which offer
good dispersion characteristics. We have therefore
Terry Knowles holds two degrees in increased product availability for our customers,”
Chemistry from the University of Surrey says Holger Hüppeler, head of the Lanxess Inorganic
in England. He has worked as a writer Pigments business unit. n
and editor for the paint and raw material
sectors for 20 years. Terry has been the Navy Yard R&D facility opens at Axalta
author of many reports for the paints and Axalta has opened its new Global Innovation Center,
coatings sector and continues to be a the largest coatings research and development
regular freelance contributor to a number (R&D) centre in the world. The 175,000 sq ft Global
of coatings journals. Innovation Center offers unparalleled speciality labs,
He can be contacted at paintwriter@gmail.com n as well as office space. Its location in Philadelphia’s
historic Navy Yard enables collaboration among
4 Journal of Surface Coatings Australia • February 2019