Industry News
German aluminum aerosol cans and tubes face an increase in the
price of raw materials and consumables, according to Gesamtverband
der Aluminiumindustrie e.V. (GDA). The price of oil has
risen by approximately 20% since June 2017 and the price of aluminum
has increased by 10% during the same period. Additionally,
the coatings and printing inks industry has experienced bottlenecks
in the supply of some raw materials. Increased commodity prices
have also led to increases in the cost of transport services. For 2018,
a further cost-push is also expected in the energy sector as a result of
ongoing wage negotiations in the industry.
Due to growing demand in Germany and other European countries,
Irish aerosol drug delivery company Aerogen is expanding its
international activities with the opening of its German Commercial
Headquarters in Ratingen. Headed up by Alyas Mussa, Clinical Sales
Manager Germany, the team has grown to include seven Critical
Care Specialists to be located across Germany.
Kao Co.’s Taiwan subsidiary, Kao (Taiwan) Corp., completed the
construction of a new production building for manufacturing beauty
care products in its Hsinchu Plant. Initial investment was approximately
3.3 billion JPY ($31 million). The new production building
will start with manufacturing skin care brand products, Bioré and
Men’s Bioré, and hair care brand products Essential and Liese.
The 38th annual Southern Aerosol Technical Association (SATA)
Fall Meeting will be held at the Clearwater Beach Marriot on Sand
Key in Clearwater, FL from Sept. 18–20 of 2018. The event will
include opportunities to meet the board for first-time attendees followed
by two days of meetings culminating in a golf tournament and
a reception dinner.
The results of European Bioplastics’ annual market data update,
recently presented at the 12th European Bioplastics Conference in
Berlin, Germany confirm a stable growth of the global bioplastics
industry. The global bioplastics production capacity is set to increase
from around 2.05 million tonnes in 2017 to approximately 2.44 million
tonnes in 2022.
Maker of specialty chemicals Croda International Plc. announced
the opening of its Centre of Innovation for Formulation Science
at the University of Liverpool’s new Materials Innovation Factory
(MIF). The MIF is a unique facility that has been supported through
a public/private partnership between the University of Liverpool,
Unilever, and the Higher Education Funding Council for England,
as part of the UK Government’s Research Partnership Investment
Fund.
Wacker Chemie AG has expanded its range of services in Turkey by
opening a technical center for consumer-care applications, construction
and textiles in Istanbul. The facility serves as an application and
test laboratory and will also serve customers from neighboring countries.
It is a part of Wacker’s new site in Istanbul’s up-and-coming
Atasehir district.
Akzo Nobel N.V. (AkzoNobel) completed a €4.8 million ($5.63
million) expansion of its surface chemistry plant in Boxing, China in
November. The expansion means that they will be able to branch out
into market sectors including personal care, cleaning, agrochemical,
mining, fuel and lubes, asphalt and the oil industry.
46 Spray January 2018
Euscher Group Germany, a supplier of mounting cups for the aerosol industry
and supplier to cosmetic and automotive industries worldwide, has completed
the acquisition of Cap & Seal Co., a supplier of mounting cups, wickholders
and metal can accessories. Both family based businesses join together to increase
Euscher’s overseas presence with Tom Brown as actual and future President of
Cap & Seal LP. Pictured from left: Sepp Juch, Managing Director of Euscher
Group; Tom Brown, President of Cap & Seal; and Joern Euscher-Klingenhagen,
Sole Shareholder and Managing Director of Euscher Group.
Additionally, in December at its Extraordinary General Meeting
(EGM), shareholders of AkzoNobel approved the separation of
its Specialty Chemicals business as part of its strategy to create two
focused, high performing businesses: Paints and Coatings and Specialty
Chemicals. New CFO Maarten de Vries was also appointed as
a member of the Board of Management, effective January along with
three new members to the AkzoNobel Supervisory Board: Sue Clark,
Patrick Thomas and Michiel Jaski.
Amorepacific Group opened its third headquarters in Yongsan,
South Korea in November following previous headquarters in Yongsan
established in 1956 and 1976. The new headquarters has a gross
area of 188,902.07m² with seven underground stories and 22 stories
above ground that can accommodate up to 7,000 workers.
Stepan Co. developed a mobile app called the Stepan Product
Finder, which allows users to identify their surfactants, polymers
and specialty lipid nutrition products at any location. The app is
described as having the capability to provide quick information for
products to reduce time-to-market, searching capacity to match ingredients
with technical requirements, the option to customize or share
information on demand with others, bookmark products, add notes,
download and share product literature, order samples and reference
company or new product information.
Global investment company Eurazeo announced a majority investment
in producer of premium home fragrance and fine fragrances
NEST Fragrances in partnership with Founder & Executive Chairman
Laura Slatkin. Slatkin will continue in her executive role and
Nancy McKay will continue to be CEO of NEST Fragrances. The
company was acquired from Tengram Capital Partners and the deal
closed on Nov. 29. Eurazeo Brands invested approximately $70 million
in the company.
European beauty retailer Douglas has acquired Italian beauty and
perfumery chains Limoni and La Gardenia from previous owner
Orlando Italy Management SA. Limoni and La Gardenia together
trade as Leading Luxury Group (LLG).