Kemira GrowHow, UEE form diesel fuel additive jv

28 March 2006 12:35  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS news)--Finnish agrochemicals company Kemira GrowHow said on Tuesday it has formed a joint venture with Belgian specialty chemicals producer UEE to make and market a nitrogen-based cetane improver for diesel fuels.

Kemira GrowHow and UEE's Spanish subsidiary UEE Chem SL have established CetPro to produce and sell a 2EHN (2 ethylhexyl nitrate)-based cetane improver to be sold under the Micet brand. UEE Chem will transfer the brand to CetPro, which will continue producing and marketing Micet.

UEE Chem's existing cetane improver production facilities in northern Spain will be relocated to Kemira GrowHow's Tertre, Belgium site, said Antti Orkola, president of the Finnish company's SBU Industrial Solutions unit. He explained that Kemira GrowHow's existing Tertre facilities would provide supplies of nitrogen feedstock, while the intermediate ethyl hexanol would be sourced from a third party supplier.

Neither Kemira GrowHow nor UEE would disclose planned production capacity or capital investment figures for the Tertre plant or the new joint venture.

The 2EHN-based cetane improvers are used to increase the natural cetane number of diesel fuel to meet standards set by local authorities, explained Kemira GrowHow. Cetane improvers are used to reduce the combustion noise and smoke of diesel fuels.
 
Kemira GrowHow said the world market for cetane improvers was expected to increase due to tightening emission standards set for diesel-powered vehicles and the general trend, especially in Europe, towards diesel-powered cars.

By: Neil Sinclair
+44 20 8652 3214

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