An essential ingredient for everyday life

Thanks to the essential nature of the products they end up in, the demand for polymers continues to increase. In turn, we have worked hard to increase supplies of organic peroxides, so that we can support the growth of our customers in the polymer industry.

We've recently acquired Brazilian firm Polinox, South America’s main producer of methyl ethyl ketone peroxides (MEKPs). MEKPs are used in the creation of various plastic and composite products, such as the buttons used on shirts, fishing rods, bathtubs, sports cars, and chemical storage tanks.

The acquisition allows us to better serve our customers and to fuel our growth ambitions as Polinox’s brands (Brasnox®, Perbenzox®, and TecnoxSuper®), knowhow, and customer base extend our product range, strengthen our market position in South America, and provide synergies with existing activities.

The Polinox deal is the latest in a series of organic peroxide-related investments. In total, we have invested more than €180 million in the last three years to upgrade our technologies and increase our production capacity at sites worldwide.

Gunilla Nord, Director of Technology and Operations within the company’s Polymer Chemicals business, explains, “These investments will help us better serve our customers and enable us to better leverage the growth dynamics of the polymer industry.”

Also recently we broke ground for a €90-million organic peroxide facility in Tianjin, China. Replacing an existing plant in Tianjin and underscoring our long-term commitment to the industry in China, the new facility supports efforts being made by Chinese authorities to optimize urban planning and upgrade the country’s chemical industry while at the same it provides the company an opportunity to expand production capacity.

Earlier, in May 2018, we announced a €4 million investment for an upgrade and expansion of our organic peroxides facility in Mahad, India. Increasing capacity by 80 percent, the investment will provide a platform to meet growing demand from customers in India and the Middle East in numerous organic peroxide market segments, particularly PVC, acrylics, and thermoset resins.

We have also made significant investments at our site in Los Reyes, Mexico. In January 2017, we finalized a €22 million expansion there for Laurox organic peroxides, which are used for acrylic resin and polymer production.

Then in May 2017 we completed another project in Los Reyes that increased overall capacity in North America for Trigonox organic peroxides by 40%. Trigonox products are used to manufacture plastics like PVC, polyethylene, acrylics, and styrenics, as well as for the curing and crosslinking of polymers.

In January 2018 we launched a further €12 million expansion and upgrade project to construct a new facility to make Perkadox organic peroxides. These are sold primarily to the thermoset market, where the company is a global market leader.

Meanwhile in Ningbo, China, we boosted capacity of Perkadox BC-FF organic peroxides by 40% and we are working on a project that will raise capacity another 50%. This type of organic peroxide is predominantly used to crosslink rubbers and polyethylene.