Pilot Chemical Announces Sustainability Strategy, Releases First Sustainability Report

CINCINNATI – Bolstering its commitment to safety, its customers, people and the communities in which it operates, Pilot Chemical Corp. has released its first Sustainability Report and a new sustainability strategy that sets the company’s path forward in the years ahead.

The 2021 Sustainability Report outlines the work completed over the last two years to embed sustainability across the company with a formalized strategy. Pilot will measure and report its progress on 11 new sustainability goals. These goals include: increasing the number of Pilot products listed on CleanGredients^® by 20% by 2030; devoting 25% of Pilot’s annual R&D time to sustainability projects by 2030; achieving zero environmental health and safety (EHS) incidents each year by continuing to develop an incident-free culture; establishing a career development process and offering it to all employees by 2025; establishing a formal charitable giving program by 2025; establishing a formal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) program by 2025; reducing its water footprint; achieving 50% reduction in hazardous waste disposed by 2030 on a per pound of production basis; sourcing 70% of all electricity consumed by Pilot from renewable sources by 2025; providing ethics and integrity training on an annual basis to all employees; and formalizing a Supplier Code of Conduct by 2023, fully implementing a compliance plan by 2025.

The goals, which were identified through a materiality assessment that involved extensive outreach to internal and external stakeholders, cover a spectrum of environmental, social and governance (ESG) topics. They are aligned with third-party expertise, including the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the Global Reporting Initiative and the American Chemistry Council’s Responsible Care^® program. Pilot Chemical reports that it will periodically evaluate and refresh its materiality assessment to identify emerging issues to monitor.

AkzoNobel to Scale up Resin Production

AMSTERDAM – AkzoNobel announced plans to invest in the expansion of in-house resin manufacturing. The expansion is part of the company’s Grow & Deliver strategy. The scale-up program, which is already underway, will help build resilience against supply disruptions while reportedly making an important contribution to achieving the company’s financial and Scope 3 (upstream) carbon reduction ambitions.

The plans include investing in sites, equipment and the people needed to optimally run them. They were developed after an internal resins team was tasked with investigating opportunities to unlock more value and make the company more self-sufficient. The investment is expected to contribute around €15 to €20 million in EBITDA by 2023.

“It quickly became apparent that investing in our own resin capability was the way to go,” said Friede. “It will enable us to secure raw material supply to optimally support our Grow & Deliver ambitions and, at the same time, we’ll look to generate extra value by leveraging and optimizing the volumes we don’t bring in-house with our network of external partners.

“We’re well aware that demand for resins is only expected to increase. Meanwhile, our resin manufacturing sites have extra production capacity available. So the decision to increase our investment in the production of resins at favorable economics is intended to add important value to our customers and our company.”

“All of our businesses use resins, and while we produce a good proportion of what we need ourselves, commodity and other specialty resins need to be sourced from third parties,” said Michael Friede, AkzoNobel’s Chief Commercial Officer for Performance Coatings. “Further investing in our own resin capabilities will help us to secure sustainable business growth, as well as supporting our innovation pipeline and sustainability targets.”

Univar Solutions and COIM USA Announce Distribution Agreement

DOWNERS GROVE, IL – Univar Solutions Inc. recently announced its selection as the exclusive distributor in the United States and Canada of Diexter-G™, Isoexter™ and Hydroexter™ from COIM USA Inc. COIM's polyester polyols and specialty resins are used to enhance the properties of coatings, adhesives and sealants (CAS) and will complement Univar Solutions' existing CAS product lines.

"We're excited to enhance our already robust high-performance polyester and polyurethane technologies product line through our new collaboration with COIM. This allows Univar Solutions to be even more valuable to our customers and help solve their toughest challenges, develop more innovative and sustainable products and reduce time to market," said Chris Fitzgerald, Global Vice President, CASE, Rubber and Plastic Additives for Univar Solutions. "With this exclusive authorization, we continue to strengthen our product portfolio, expand our ability to meet the needs of customers in the United States and Canada, and drive new growth opportunities through higher performing, and more innovative and sustainable solutions."

Hexion Among Top Companies in North American Chemical Sector in ESG Assessment  

COLUMBUS, OH – Hexion Inc. has recently received an improved environmental, social and governance (ESG) assessment score of 51 out of 100 from Moody’s ESG Solutions, an ESG data and assessments provider. This ranks Hexion among the top three companies in the North American chemical sector, up one place from Moody’s ESG Solutions’ prior ESG Assessment.

“This recognition underscores our commitment to furthering social responsibility and sustainability as an essential part of how we do business,” said Craig Rogerson, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Hexion. “We are delighted to be ranked so highly for the second consecutive year and remain committed to continued improvement in our overall sustainability efforts.”

Moody’s ESG Solutions’ ESG Assessments measure the extent to which a company is managing ESG-related risks and opportunities, and equips leaders with data and insights needed to make more sustainable decisions.

IMCD Announces Acquisition of Quelaris

ROTTERDAM, The Netherlands – IMCD N.V. has signed an agreement to acquire 100% of the business and the subsidiaries of Quelaris Internacional S.A., a LATAM regional raw material distributor with offices in Colombia, Costa Rica and Peru. The transaction is expected to close in March 2022.

“IMCD and Quelaris have harmonized business philosophies towards customer, supplier and employee relations,” said Paul Vanhauw, CEO, Quelaris. “This quickly built trust between our companies, and by joining together, we significantly strengthen our ability to serve our respective industry partners. We are ready to take on new challenges and to become an instrumental part of IMCD’s winning team.”

“Following IMCD’s acquisition of Andes Chemical Corp. nine months ago, the Quelaris acquisition further enhances IMCD’s presence and offering in North LATAM,” said Marcus Jordan, Americas President, IMCD. “The addition of Quelaris further reinforces our approach of creating growth opportunities for our supply and customer partners, and we are delighted to embark on this new adventure with the Quelaris team.”

Generating revenue of approximately $52 million in 2021, Quelaris was established in 1993, operates in 14 LATAM countries, and adds 46 employees to IMCD. It has  strong presence in the polyurethane, coatings, adhesives, rubber and other industrial markets throughout the region.

Inkmaker Shanghai and Fast & Fluid Management Asia Announce Partnership

SHANGHAI – Inkmaker Shanghai, the manufacturer of integrated dispensing systems in China for IM GROUP, has partnered with Fast & Fluid Management Asia (FFM Asia), becoming its new certified channel partner for China. The union will see FFM Asia’s POS (point of sales) tinting solutions business collaborate with Inkmaker’s expertise in the coating, paint and ink industries. The partnership will benefit both parties as they strengthen their foothold in the Chinese market.

“This step forward demonstrates our commitment towards our customers to support their growth and our clear strategy to grow our halogen-free fire retardant and specialty material business globally,” said Victor Dean, General Manager of HEM’s FRA strategic business unit.

Based in Breitenau, Austria, MAGNIFIN has been producing magnesium hydroxide (MDH) products since 1990. MAGNIFIN^® coated and uncoated magnesium hydroxides are environment friendly, halogen-free fire retardants used in a wide range of polymer applications, especially thermoplastic materials and elastomers requiring high processing temperatures in excess of 300 °C.

“This transition is a strong strategic fit with HEM’s mission to own and operate specialty chemical and mineral companies with market-leading positions,” said Dan Krawczyk, President of Huber Engineered Materials.