Business Centre in Switzerland.BASF’s Paper Chemical division,which has its headquarters in Basel,will be unaffected by the restructuringprogramme.

Thanks to increased efficiency inthe polyacrylamide value-chain, therewill be some retrenchment in thecompany’s water chemicals business ,mainly at the Bradford and Grimsbysites in the United Kingdom. BASFalso intends to sell its industrial watermanagement business, located inLyons (France). BASF’s leather andtextile chemicals activities will beincreasingly focused on theAsia/Pacific region and on high value-adding applications. Global researchand development for both businesseswill be established in Shanghai.

Original Source: BASF SE, D-67056 Ludwigshafen,Germany, tel: +49 (0) 621 600, website:http://www.basf.com (23 Apr 2013) © BASF 2013

Police TiO2 plant swept up in PolishGovt’s chemical industry consolidation

The Polish Government has takenfurther steps to consolidate andstreamline the country’s fertiliser andheavy chemicals industry. This willaffect the ultimate ownership ofZaklady Chemiczne Police (ZChP),which operates a 40,000 tonnes/ysulfate-route TiO2 pigment plant atPolice on the Baltic coast (15 kmnorth of Szczecin) alongside large-scale phosphate fertiliser and sulfuricacid facilities. Zaklady Azoty Tarnow(ZAT) paid about $170 M to acquire a66% stake in ZChP in August 2011.Ten months earlier, ZAT had acquireda 52.62% controlling stake in ZakladyAzotowe Kedzierzyn (ZAK) and itincreased its stake to 93.48% inOctober 2011. At that time, the PolishGovernment had a 32% shareholdingin ZAT.

Last May, OAO Acron (of Russia)launched a hostile bid to gain financialcontrol of ZAT, offering shareholdersZloty 45 per share, which representeda premium of nearly 50% over ZAT’saverage share price quoted on theWarsaw Stock Exchange over theprevious six months. However, thePolish Government resisted Acron’sbid for ZAT and by mid-July it becameclear that the bid had failed. (See also‘Focus on Pigments’, Jul 2012, 5-6 &Sep 2012, 5).

During the second half of 2012,with Government encouragement,Grupa Azoty was established as acorporate brandname for ZAT, ZAKand ZChP. On 24 April 2013, ZATformally changed its name to GrupaAzoty. Meanwhile, in mid-March 2013,the Government tightened its grip onthe group thanks to the passage of aresolution whereby, so long as thePolish Government holds a stake of atleast 20% of Grupa Azoty, no othershareholder can exercise voting rightsrepresenting more than 20%.Currently, the Government holds a39.4% stake in Grupa Azoty, NoricaHolding (a subsidiary of Acron) holdsan 11.5% stake and the EuropeanBank for Reconstruction andDevelopment (EBRD) holds a 5.75%stake. The Government is committedto reducing its shareholding in GrupaAzoty to 33%.

For 1Q 2013, the TiO2 businessunit of ZChP reported an operatingloss of Zloty 4.1 M, reflecting lowersales volume and prices compared to1Q2 2012, when the unit reported anoperating profit of Zloty 33.1 M.

Original Source: ICIS Chemical Business, 19 Mar & 24Apr & 10 May 2013, (Website:http://icischemicalbusiness.com) © Reed BusinessInformation Limited 2013

Silberline broadens Archway’s salesterritory for Al pastes & pigments

Silberline (headquartered at Tamaqua,PA) has broadened the sales territory ofArchway Sales Inc (of St Louis, MO).Archway is now the exclusive distributorfor Silberline’s aluminium pigments andpastes for the states of: South Dakota,North Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas,Tennessee, South Carolina, NorthCarolina, Mississippi, Louisiana,Georgia, Florida and Alabama.

Original Source: Paint & Coatings Industry (PCI), Mar2013, 29 (3), 18 (Website: http://www.pcimag.com/)© BNP Media 2013

LITIGATIONBASF aims to enforce patent rights onits Irgacure-819 photoinitiator

BASF is taking firm steps to stop thedistribution of counterfeit versions ofits Irgacure-819 photoinitiator. After

repeatedly issuing notifications,BASF has contacted thosedistributors identified as offeringcounterfeit Irgacure-819 products forsale and has insisted that they ceasemarketing these products or facelitigation.

Irgacure-819 is a well-known andwidely used photoinitiator thattriggers chemical reactions whenexposed to ultraviolet light, whichhelps to speed up the drying processfor coatings and adhesives. It iscurrently protected by severalpatents covering the synthesisprocess. These are meant to preventother companies from using thisprocess to produce Irgacure-819 andcertain product formulationsincluding aqueous suspensions andmixtures that contain otherphotoinitiators. Following anintensive chemical analysis of thecounterfeit products, BASF canprove that they were manufacturedusing BASF’s patented synthesisprocess. According to BASF, thesecounterfeit versions are all producedin China and sold globally viadistributors. “We expect that alldistributors will respect our patentrights and that no Court rulings willbe necessary,” said Mr RalfSpettmann (Head of BASF’sPigments & Resins business inEurope).

Original Source: BASF SE, D-67056 Ludwigshafen,Germany, tel: +49 (0) 621 600, website:http://www.basf.com (15 Apr 2013) © BASF 2013

Merck wins patent dispute with CQV(Korea) over gold pigments

In October 2011, Merck filed alawsuit in the Seoul District Courtagainst CQV Co (formerly known asSky Chemical Co, headquartered atJincheon-gun, South Korea),alleging infringement of its patentsfor manufacturing metallic pigmentswith “unique natural gold-likeeffects.” The two companies havenow reached an out-of-Courtsettlement, whereby CQV willcontinue to produce and market itsChaos Super Gold C-603Spigments, but will pay Merck anagreed licence fee.

Original Source: Chemical and Engineering News, 11Feb 2013, 91 (6), 20 (Website: http://www.cen-online)© American Chemical Society 2013

JUNE 2013 7

F O C U S O N P I G M E N T S