Merquinsa (Montmelo / Spain; www.merquinsa.com), a subsidiary of US speciality chemicals producer Lubrizol (Wickliffe, Ohio; www.lubrizol.com), is expanding its presence in the Nordic TPU market by appointing Bjorn Thorsen (Copenhagen / Denmark; www.bjorn-thorsen.com) as distributor for its TPU speciality elastomer resins. The distribution agreement covers TPU technologies for adhesives, injection moulding, extrusion and compounding applications in Nordic countries (Denmark, Norway and Sweden), Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Merquinsa’s range of TPU resins includes “Pearlthane”, “Pearlcoat”, “Pearlbond” and “Pearlstick”.

Bjorn Thorsen already distributes Lubrizol’s “Estane” engineered polymers in Nordic countries, as well as Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. “The new agreement, which expands the TPU product ranges covered, will create efficiencies for both companies by leveraging the strength of Bjorn Thorsen's presence across the region and broadening our offering of TPU speciality technologies," said Sven Rimestad, managing director of Bjorn Thorsen.

Lubrizol also announced that it has expanded its aliphatic TPU extrusion product range for ballistic glass and protection film by improving the performance of Pearlthane D91T80 and developing new Pearlthane D91T86 for moulded parts. The products are designed for automotive, sports, recreation and electronics applications, such as watchbands, smartphones and headphones.