Plastics News - Show Daily - October 19, 2022 - 7

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Plastics News, October 19, 2022 * 7
UniteChem: The additive effect
By Karen Laird
Sustainable Plastics
The UniteChem Group, the
world's leading supplier of
high-performance light stabilizers
for plastics, is one of China's largest
specialty chemicals companies.
Two years ago, the company
opened its fi rst sales offi ce in
Europe - in Düsseldorf, Germany
- and a European warehouse
in Antwerp, Belgium. " The EU is
becoming a major market, " said
Jan Kreibaum, Director Europe,
Suqian UniteChem Co. Ltd. and
UniteChem GmbH.
Headquartered in Suqian City,
China, UniteChem long looked toward
Asia to market its range of
light stabilizers and other products.
This year is the company's
fi rst K fair after its strategic decision
to open a European subsidiary
in Germany, a move designed
to strengthen and grow the company's
presence on the European
continent. That move, together
with the new warehouse and logistics
hub that it established in
Antwerp, has changed the way
the company is perceived in Europe,
Kreibaum said.
He explained: " We established
UniteChem GmbH in Germany in
mid-2020 and were able to quickly
establish our operations at
our Düsseldorf offi ce, though it
was quite challenging in the middle
of the pandemic. The most
important to us was to quickly
meet the needs of our European
customers; in particular setting
up local stock and logistics, as
well as local staff. "
UniteChem was successful on
both counts, said Kreibaum, and
this has clearly impacted the
way the company is viewed in
the market. This year at K 2022 is
the fi rst time the company is presenting
itself with its European
offi ce. " Whereas we did have the
recognition as a major producer
prior to 2020, by fi rmly setting up
operations in Europe, we are now
also recognized as a reliable and
highly service-oriented local supplier, "
he said.
The opening of the Düsseldorf
offi ce together with the Antwerp
warehouse to ensure logistics
support was but the fi rst step in
the company positioning itself as
a key supplier in Europe.
" As our sales are growing
strongly in Europe; we are also
growing our team. To meet the
differing customer needs across
Europe we have hired sales professionals
with different language
capabilities - for example, Italian
to better serve the very important
Italian market. We also intend
to expand our warehousing network
in Europe, with another logistics
hub in southern Europe in
the planning, " Kreibaum revealed.
Europe is not the only market
targeted for growth. UniteChem
has also embarked on an impressive
expansion program in China,
with very ambitious plans to continue
its growth in the future. With
an established production capacity
of 80,000 tons of intermediates
and 40,000 tons of fi nished products,
UniteChem is among the largest
light stabilizer producers in
the world. It is also the only largescale
additives company focused
primarily on light stabilizers with
a completely back-integrated value
chain - all the way to acetone
UNITECHEM
Hall 8A,
Booth E33
and acrylonitrile.
The
company
r ecently
launched a
significant
investment
program to
further expand the scale of its production
facilities and to broaden
its production portfolio.
" With our two new plants in Jiangsu
province as well as our newest
plant in Sichuan province, we
are adding 16,000 tons [of] capacity
in HALS (hindered-amine light
stabilizers), 15,000 tons in UVAs
(UV absorbers) as well as another
20,000 tons in various new product
categories including fl ame retardants,
antioxidants, nucleating
agents and more, " said Kreibaum.
" Our plant construction is well
underway, and we expect completion
of all plants by 2024. "
Among the new products recently
introduced were new light
stabilizers such as LS-2020 and
LS-119, while several offer novel
products including LS-4050
(a low-molecular weight HALS
for thick-wall items), as well as
several
halogen-free bisphenol
A bis-diphenyl phosphate (BDP)
and piperazine pyrophosphate
(PAPP) fl ame retardants for demanding
applications will be
launched soon. Two high-heat
polyamide (PA) stabilizers for
See UniteChem, Page 35
The opening of
the Düsseldorf
offi ce together
with the Antwerp
warehouse to
ensure logistics
support was but
the fi rst step
in the company
positioning itself
as a key supplier
in Europe.
The UniteChem
Group photo
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IT'S MAKING THE CIRCULAR
ECONOMY GO ROUND.
SABIC teamwork is rethinking recycling.
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ones. It's ground-breaking technology that's making the circular
economy reality with Chemistry that Matters™.
Meet one of the world's leading chemical
companies at SABIC.com/collaboration
MEET US AT K 2022
HALL 6, BOOTH D42
19-26 October
Düsseldorf, Germany
http://www.SABIC.com/collaboration
Plastics News - Show Daily - October 19, 2022

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