Plastics distributor NCT (Breda / The Netherlands; www.nctww.com) has sold a 40% minority stake to Itochu Plastics (CIPS, Tokyo / Japan; www.itc-ps.co.jp), distribution subsidiary of the Japanese industrial group Itochu. A purchase price was not announced. NCT's president Marco Huysmans said the Dutch company needed a strong partner to support growth and enable it to take full advantage of future opportunities. With the deal, the two plastics distributors now claim to have moved into the ranks of the world’s top ten players.

NCT’s business is focused principally on polyolefins and PVC, but it also distributes polystyrene, PET and other plastics. In 2007, its trading and distribution throughput exceeded 200,000 t of polymer; however, the company has declined to give a more detailed breakdown. Sales turnover was just over EUR 250m last year.

Itochu’s investment in NCT gives it access to markets in Europe, Turkey, the Middle East and India. The Japanese company reported sales of some EUR 1.26 bn in fiscal 2006/2007 (31 March), mainly in Asia. Plastics distribution is only one of its four divisions. Itochu also markets packaging materials to a wide variety of sectors and sells electronic components and construction materials.