Belgian specialty chemicals distributor Azelis (Antwerp; www.azelis.com) on 31 July said it had entered into a cooperation agreement with Japan’s Marubeni (Tokyo; www.marubeni.com) to strengthen the two companies’ activities in Asia. By the time this article went to press, Plasteurope.com had not heard back from Azelis about its query concerning possible financial details of the deal and further information on what materials are involved.

The Belgian group said the arrangement set the groundwork for both companies to continue to expand their business in the region, where activities will initially be focused on China – which was identified as a market of particular importance to both companies. Azelis added that there was a lot of potential for synergies between the two trading houses. Commenting on the deal, group CEO Joris Coppye said, “This partnership with Marubeni allows our principals unparalleled penetration into Asia’s growth markets, in particular in China.”