InterviewUS BWA not affected by Chemtura bankruptcy

06 April 2009 22:29  [Source: ICIS news]

By Joseph Chang

NEW YORK (ICIS news)--US specialty chemical firm Chemtura’s recent filing for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 will have no impact on the business of BWA Water Additives, the latter’s president said on Monday.

“Chemtura is still running its assets and supplying product for us, and it’s clear they will continue to do so in the future,” said Paul Turgeon, president and chief operating officer of BWA Water Additives.

“The Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing actually removed uncertainty. Pre-bankruptcy we didn’t know what was going to happen,” he added.

Under Chapter 11, companies can continue to operate while receiving protection from creditors. Chemtura filed for bankruptcy on 18 March.

US-based BWA Water Additives receives around two-thirds of its supply from four Chemtura facilities in the US and Europe. However, BWA has developed other suppliers and can source material from elsewhere as needed, he said.

“Ever since we were sold by Chemtura, one of our goals was self-sufficiency. We’ve developed suppliers and now source material from 18 different plants worldwide,” Turgeon said.

BWA Water Additives, which had sales of around $130m (€96m) in 2008, develops and markets water additives for industrial and process water treatment, desalination, pulp and paper, oilfield and other process industries. The company does not own any manufacturing facilities.

($1 = €0.74)

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By: Joseph Chang
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