MOSCOW (MRC) -- Arkema, a France-based chemical manufacturer, has announced a price increase and a product range simplification of its Durastrength acrylic impact modifiers and its Plastistrength processing aids in Europe, including Russia, and the Middle-East, said the producer on its site.
Thus, Arkema has increased the prices of its Durastrength acrylic impact modifiers and its Plastistrength processing aids. Increases will range typically from 5% to 10%, depending on grades and current prices and are dictated by recent movements on main raw materials.
Arkema also plans to streamline its product line over 2015 to reduce complexity for customers and for Arkema. In this view, Arkema Sales and technical organization will contact customers directly regarding specific initiatives affected by these actions.
"These actions are critical to supporting reinvestment economics in a market characterized by its volatility, its competitiveness and constant need for innovation", said Stephane Guinot, Arkema Plastic Additives Business Director. "We remain steadfast in our drive to improve service levels, accelerate productivity gains and maintain our innovation pace that benefit our customers."
Arkema’s Plastistrength processing aids help the processing of PVC by promoting fusion, improving melt strength, eliminating surface defects and decreasing plate out. They also enhance formulation metal release properties in extrusion and calendering applications while offering improved cost performance versus traditional lubricant packages.
Durastrength acrylic impact modifiers are designed to deliver optimum cost and performance in rigid and flexible PVC applications for window profiles, siding, fence, deck, pipe and injection molding applications.
As MRC wrote earlier, starting March 1, 2015, Arkema raised prices for its whole Evatane (high content ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer) range by EUR100/tonne. During the past months, the EVA market was undergoing a price erosion that affected profitability. Due to the price hike of ethylene, the company was forced to pass this increase to the market.
Marketed under the trademark Evatane, Arkema's EVA products are functional polyolefins used in highly diverse industrial applications, including hot-melt, cables, multilayer packaging films, technical polymers modification, solar panels, petroleum additives, bitumen and inks.
Arkema with annual revenue of EUR7.6 billion is a leading European supplier of chlorochemicals and PVC. Kynar and Kynar Flex are registered trademarks of Arkema Inc. Arkema operates 11 organic peroxide plants on the three continents.
MRC