Ciba committed to plastics additives industry

14 June 2007 23:52  [Source: ICIS news]

BASEL (ICIS news)--Ciba Specialty Chemicals is intent on remaining the largest supplier of additives to the plastics industry, the company said on Thursday.

The firm is committed to expanding its product offering through innovation and will continue to invest as much as 5% of sales into plastics research and development (R&D), said Giordano Righini, executive vice president of Ciba Plastic Additives.

"The level of research investment is dropping across the supply chain... but we want to keep that stream alive," Righini said. "So we talk to customers to fill that gap... Innovation is key for us."

The division also focuses much of its marketing further downstream than its actual clients, so that demand from plastics converters for certain effects and qualities prompts orders from resin makers.

The company said strong growth in the construction and packaging industries are the main drivers of sales in its additives and coatings business, and as much of this growth is happening in Asia, it too has to expand in those regions.

The firm is already building a Swiss Franc 130m (€78m) antioxidant plant on Jurong Island in Singapore. The plant, which will have an initial capacity of 30,000 tonnes/year, is on track to start up in early 2008.

Elsewhere, a high-performance pigments plant is planned to come on stream in mid-2008 in Nanjing China. The facility will produce some 500,000 tonnes/year of pigments, including diketo-pyrrolo-pyrrole (DPP), before being expanded further.

"The Singapore project is a strong and clear message to the market - we are the leader in the market and we want to remain so in the future,” Righini said. “And we are ready to invest money and technology to achieve this."

(€1 = Swfr1.66)

By: Elizabeth Bains
+44 20 8652 3214

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