Chinese light stabiliser supplier UniteChem (Suqian; www.unitechem.cn) has announced an ambitious expansion programme, both in China and Europe, to increase capacity, launch new products and boost customer-support capabilities. The company is currently filing for an initial public offering on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and expects to become officially listed around December 2022.

“Over the past two decades, we have been taking our expertise in innovative light stabilisers and other performance additives beyond China to meet the demands of a growing customer base worldwide,” said CEO Junyi Lin. “Our current investments extend across all levels, adding production, R&D, local sales and logistic capacities to get closer to upstream and downstream customers and maintain security of supply in line with our key values of trust, partnership and excellence.”

The company is raising its capacity for intermediates from 80,000 t/y to more than 300,000 t/y at Suqian; it did not say when the expansion would go online. Additionally, three new plants at Nanchong in Sichuan, Shengjin, and Shengrui, both in Jiangsu, are scheduled to go on stream between 2022 and 2024.

UniteChem will also add 50,000 t/y of capacity for finished products, more than doubling current production in order to meet growing customer demand for both existing and new additive products such as UV absorbers and nucleating agents, as well as other stabilisers.

On the sustainability front, the firm intends to adopt more environmentally friendly technology at Suqian for synthesising benzotriazole UV absorbers and will invest in dedicated recycling, reuse, and reduction initiatives at its sites.

The company continues to expand its polymer additives portfolio and has a range of products that are soon to be commercialised. These include LS-4050, a low-molecular weight hindered amine light stabiliser (HALS) for thick-wall items – due for launch next year – as well as several halogen-free bisphenol A bis(diphenyl phosphate) and piperazine pyrophosphate flame retardants for demanding components such as multi-fibre push-on connectors, and two high-heat PA stabilisers for automotive parts and fibres.

Currently in the pilot stage are products that include a new HALS NO-R grade, stabilisers for high-pesticide agricultural applications and various nucleating agents that are mostly for use not just in PP and PE, but also PET, PBT and PLA.

UniteChem said it will double its European workforce and bring technical support closer to local customers. The group is looking at logistics sites, including in Italy, to improve the availability of product samples and accelerate time-to-market of new applications.

The plans follow the opening of a sales office in Düsseldorf, Germany, last year (see Plasteurope.com of 22.04.2021) and the establishment of a warehouse in Antwerp, Belgium. The Chinese company will be exhibiting at the K (www.k-online.com) trade fair this year, which will take place from 19 to 26 October in Düsseldorf (see Plasteurope.com of 09.03.2022).