Milan, Italy - At the 2009 NPE show in Chicago 22-26 June, COIM SpA will be highlighting its move into manufacturing its Laripur brand of thermoplastic polyurethanes in North America, at booth No 135038.
Until now, COIM has only made these materials in Europe, at its Milan site, pointed out Antonio Piroddi, global market manager for Laripur, but the PU group has "invested significantly in the North American region following its acquisition of the former Huntsman West Deptford, New Jersey site in March 2005."
Since then, COIM has installed state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment to support its business units -- Imuthane pre-polymers for hot cast elastomers, Novacote laminating adhesives for the flexible packaging industry and Diexter and Isoexter polyester polyols that find application in flexible and rigid foam as well as CASE (coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers).
The Diexter range of aliphatic polyester polyols reflects COIM's core technology and is the raw material for many downstream value-added polyurethane product lines, said the company.
One of these is Laripur TPUs, where the bulk of its market share is in the European region, since currently all Laripur TPU is manufactured in Italy.
The site in West Deptford offers "a unique opportunity" to expand this segment of its manufacturing base, said COIM.
Laripur TPUs are based on various polyols including polyesters, polyethers, and caprolactones, with products offered from 60 Shore A to 75 Shore D for injection moulding, extrusion and adhesives. The TPUs cover a broad application area from custom moulding, footwear and seals to wire and cable, tubing, profiles, films and more.
Piroddi said COIM's Research & Development and Applications groups "have ongoing programmes to develop grades for new applications as well next-generation products to support customer and market requirements. We have a complete portfolio of products to serve multiple market segment applications and processes."
COIM's polycaprolactone- and polyether-based seals grades provide outstanding compression set properties at elevated temperature. They maintain excellent flexibility at low temperatures coupled with both chemical and hydrolysis resistance, the company claims.
The group has also introduced new grades using non-halogenated flame retardants for the wire & cable market. These exhibit excellent mechanical properties, as well as flame retardant properties with elevated LOI (loss on ignition), non-dripping behavior and ease of processing," said COIM.
This expansion in North America completes COIM's global reach, said the statement, pointing out that the market dynamics and players have changed drastically in the last few years. COIM said it has chosen to invest in the US so that when the economic upturn begins it will be "well positioned to offer a full product portfolio to the customer base."
PIC: COIM's plant in Italy
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