J.M. HUBER
Second flame retardant expansion in Germany / Capacity to rise by 20%
Huber Engineered Materials (Atlanta, Georgia / USA; www.hubermaterials.com), a division of J.M. Huber (Edison, New Jersey / USA; www.huber.com), is in the process of widening capacity for the “Martinal” grades of fine precipitated alumina trihydrate (ATH), at its Martinswerk plant in Bergheim / Germany, near Cologne. The new capacity will be added in several steps. The first incremental volumes are scheduled to become available in the second half of 2019, before the project is completed in early 2020.
The company did not reveal investment costs for the latest expansion, which will see capacity rise by 20%. However, a spokesman told a German newspaper it would be “under EUR 50m.” This is the second stage of capacity expansion at the site, designed to support growing demand for the halogen-free fire retardants from customers in Europe, India and Asia, noted Martin Schulting, managing director of Huber’s FRA business unit in EMEA. At the same time, it is the largest single investment in 40 years at the German site.
In 2016, shortly after acquiring the site from Albemarle (Baton Rouge, Louisiana / USA; www.albemarle.com) at the end of 2015 – see Plasteurope.com of 22.12.2015 – Huber began the first 10% stage of its capacity build-up, adding 160,000 t/y of ATH – see Plasteurope.com of 30.09.2016. By 2020, output capability is due to rise to 192,000 t/y. The US company regards itself as a global leader in fine precipitated ATH as well as magnesium hydroxide, another non-halogenated fire retardant added to the portfolio in the Albemarle purchase. Altogether, the FRA business unit has four manufacturing sites in North America and two in Europe.
Along with the capacity buildup in Germany, Huber is close to completing an expansion of ATH capacity at its site in Bauxite, Arkansas / USA, where a 20% increase was completed in 2016. The new line, for which capacity has not been disclosed, is due to go on stream in this year’s third quarter. The company also said that it has committed to reducing its environmental footprint at Bergheim. Schulting pointed to “ongoing sustainability discussions” with local authorities that he said should “deliver improvements.”
The company did not reveal investment costs for the latest expansion, which will see capacity rise by 20%. However, a spokesman told a German newspaper it would be “under EUR 50m.” This is the second stage of capacity expansion at the site, designed to support growing demand for the halogen-free fire retardants from customers in Europe, India and Asia, noted Martin Schulting, managing director of Huber’s FRA business unit in EMEA. At the same time, it is the largest single investment in 40 years at the German site.
In 2016, shortly after acquiring the site from Albemarle (Baton Rouge, Louisiana / USA; www.albemarle.com) at the end of 2015 – see Plasteurope.com of 22.12.2015 – Huber began the first 10% stage of its capacity build-up, adding 160,000 t/y of ATH – see Plasteurope.com of 30.09.2016. By 2020, output capability is due to rise to 192,000 t/y. The US company regards itself as a global leader in fine precipitated ATH as well as magnesium hydroxide, another non-halogenated fire retardant added to the portfolio in the Albemarle purchase. Altogether, the FRA business unit has four manufacturing sites in North America and two in Europe.
Along with the capacity buildup in Germany, Huber is close to completing an expansion of ATH capacity at its site in Bauxite, Arkansas / USA, where a 20% increase was completed in 2016. The new line, for which capacity has not been disclosed, is due to go on stream in this year’s third quarter. The company also said that it has committed to reducing its environmental footprint at Bergheim. Schulting pointed to “ongoing sustainability discussions” with local authorities that he said should “deliver improvements.”
16.03.2018 Plasteurope.com [239281-0]
Published on 16.03.2018
German version of this article...