Specialty chemicals

China, Asia to drive growth in demand for high-intensity sweeteners

Worldwide consumption of high-intensity sweeteners (HIS) is expected to increase at an average annual rate of 2.1% in the 2019-24 period, according to a report published by IHS Markit in late March.

EMS reports fall in profits, lower sales

EMS Group (Domat, Switzerland), a producer of high-performance polymers and specialty chemicals, says its provisional net operating income for the first half of 2020 decreased by 27.6% to 229 million Swiss francs ($243 million) compared with SFr316 million in the prior-year period.

Consumer-driven DIY lifts Tikkurila's results

Paints and coatings producer Tikkurila (Vantaa, Finland) has provided an update on its financial performance, with its second-quarter operating profit increasing by 54% year on year (YOY) to approximately €32.5 million ($36.7 million).

Novozymes reports growth in first half despite weaker second-quarter performance

Novozymes has provided a trading update for the first half of 2020 and says it achieved overall organic growth of 4% for the period and an EBIT margin of approximately 27.5%.

Maroon Group acquires Holland Chemicals

Maroon Group LLC (Avon, Ohio) has acquired Holland Chemicals (Burr Ridge, Illinois), a distributor of specialty chemicals and ingredients to the personal care, household and industrial cleaning, food, and industrial markets.

Innovation, acquisitions drive Altana

Altana’s (Wesel, Germany) business approach and corporate culture are characterized by investment in R&D to develop innovative products and services that support customers’ needs, and targeted acquisitions that advance the company’s ability to innovate.

PolyOne completes masterbatches acquisition from Clariant, changes name

PolyOne today announced completion of the acquisition of the color masterbatch businesses of Clariant and the Clariant Chemicals India affiliate. PolyOne also announced that it had changed its name and will now be called Avient Corp.

Henkel expands additive manufacturing services at existing sites

Henkel says it is expanding its additive manufacturing services through leveraging the company’s existing infrastructure and internal capabilities at certain application centers and at its certified plant at Richmond, Missouri.

Solenis signs distribution agreement with German producer of oleochemical additives

Solenis (Wilmington, Delaware) says it has signed an exclusive distribution agreement with Peter Greven (Euskirchen, Germany), a leading manufacturer of oleochemical additives.

DSM acquires part of Clariant's 3D printing business

DSM says it has reached an agreement to acquire certain parts of Clariant’s 3D printing business.

Merck KGaA announces partnership for its liquid crystal windows business

Merck KGaA (Darmstadt, Germany) says it has entered into a partnership with Guardian Glass (Auburn Hills, Michigan), a producer of high-performance and fabricated glass, to commission sales of Merck’s liquid crystal windows.

AkzoNobel's revenue down 30% in April, pandemic forces pause in transformation

AkzoNobel today provided an update on its business in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The company says that the steps it took to reduce costs rapidly are proving successful and keeping the organization intact and able to respond quickly to changes in end-market demand.

BASF: Hygiene market has changed

The way people have reacted to the unprecedented conditions caused by COVID-19 is only the beginning of a new reality that is changing the future of the home-care and industrial and institutional (I&I) cleaning market, according to a recent blog post published on the North American website of BASF’s home care and I&I cleaning solutions business.

Specialty chemicals industry set for contraction in 2020, recovery in 2021

The negative impact of COVID-19 will be felt in 2020, the industry is expected to rebound in 2021.

Water-soluble polymer market trends expected to hold despite COVID-19

The outlook for the water-soluble polymers market is positive overall, due to their range of end-uses and competitive prices, says Marifaith Hackett, director/specialty chemicals at IHS Markit.

Coatings makers see long road back from COVID-19 demand hit

Paints and coatings manufacturers say that the demand reduction from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic will mean subdued business activity for the rest of 2020, with automotive coatings particularly hard hit.

COVID-19 has uneven impact on specialty chemicals industry

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak is having an asymmetrical impact on the specialty chemicals industry. The main effect is negative with specialty chemical producers facing huge falls in demand for their products, struggling to keep their plants operating, and facing financial losses.

Under pressure: Specialty chemicals industry braces for intensified COVID-19 impact

The COVID-19 outbreak has had a varied, but mainly negative, impact on the demand for specialty chemicals. Companies have adopted a range of measures to cope with the crisis and they expect the pressure to intensify in the second quarter.

Saint-Gobain to sell entire Sika stake to institutional investors

French building materials group Saint-Gobain (Paris, France), through its subsidiary Schenker-Winkler Holding AG (SWH), has started to dispose of its entire 10.75% stake in the Swiss construction chemicals company Sika (Baar, Switzerland) through a private placement to institutional investors.

Featured data

US specialties volumes record slight increase in May

US specialty chemical market volumes increased 1.4% sequentially in May, following a record 12.5% sequential decline in April, according to ACC.