Although the antitrust authorities nixed their plans for a polymeric flame retardant (PolyFR) joint venture, ICL Industrial Products (ICL IP, Beer Sheva / Israel; www.icl-ip.com) and Albemarle (Baton Rouge, Louisiana / USA; www.albemarle.com) continue to work together (for most recent coverage, see Plasteurope.com of 01.02.2016). The two companies in late February announced that they have entered into a long-term supply agreement for PolyFR, marketed by Albemarle under the “GreenCrest” brand name, and by ICL IP as “FR122P”. The agreement still has to meet the approval of Israel’s Antitrust Authority.

The deal foresees that Albemarle will supply ICL IP with bromine for the production of the PolyFR, which the latter will manufacture at its plants in Israel and The Netherlands. The additive, used in the EPS and XPS industries, is produced using technology licensed from Dow (Midland, Michigan / USA; www.dow.com).

Irrespective of the agreement, the two companies will continue to independently market, sell and offer technical service to their customers in Europe. PolyFR is an alternative to HBCD polymeric flame retardants, which are to be phased out in Europe by August 2017, after a syndicate managed to push through a prolongation on their use. The ban was originally due to go into effect last year (see Plasteurope.com of 18.01.2016).