UniteChem Group has departed on an ambitious expansion journey with major investments in global production capacity and local customer support. Its growing portfolio will be on display at K 2022.

“Over the past two decades, we have been taking our expertise in innovative light stabilizers and other performance additives beyond China to meet the demands of a growing customer base worldwide,” told Junyi Lin, CEO of UniteChem Group.

Adding capacity in intermediates and finished products

One of the important strengths of UniteChem is its solid backward integration, providing extensive production flexibility, high reliability and maximum quality control. Its current 80,000 tons capacity for intermediates is being ramped up to more than 300,000 tons with an expansion of its existing Suqian (Jiansu) facilities.

Besides, three new plants are scheduled to come on-stream in 2022/2024 at Nanchong (Sichuan), Shengjin and Shengrui (both Jiangsu). These significant investments will also allow UniteChem to integrate further intermediates in its production and support the availability of new additive solutions.

UniteChem’s new Shengijn (Jiangsu) Plant.

Capacity in finished products will be more than doubled by an increase of 50,000 tons to meet growing customer demands for both existing and new products, such as UV absorbers – produced in a novel environmentally friendly process – as well as nucleating agents and other stabilizers.

At its expanding Suqian site, UniteChem is also adopting a new and more sustainable technology for synthesizing benzotriazole UV absorbers in a proprietary catalytic hydrogenation reduction process.

Moreover, as part of its commitment to sustainability in line with the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations, it is investing in dedicated recycling, reuse and reduction initiatives at its production sites.

New Nanchong (Sichuan) plant.

Installed capabilities now include 280,000 m³/hr of waste gas treatment using regenerative thermal oxidization (RTO) technology, 1,800 m³/day of waste water treatment, and 8,800 tons/year of solid chemical waste treatment.

Growing portfolio of performance additives

UniteChem Group has been continuously expanding its polymer additives portfolio. Recently commercialized HALS products have included LS-2020 for fibers and webs of polyolefin and other polymer materials, and LS-119 mainly for agricultural, greenhouse and engineering polymer applications in automotive etc.

Soon to be commercialized will be LS-4050 (in 2023), a low-molecular weight HALS for thick-wall items, as well as several halogen-free bisphenol A bis(diphenyl phosphate) BDP and piperazine pyrophosphate (PAPP) flame retardants for demanding components such as multi-fiber push on (MPO) connectors, and two high-heat polyamide (PA) stabilizers for automotive parts and fibers.

Innovative product developments in the pilot stage include new HALS NO-R grade, state-of-the-art stabilizers for high-pesticide agricultural applications, and various nucleating agents mainly for use in polyolefins (PP, PE) but also in polyethylene terephthalate (PET), engineering polyesters (PBT) and polylactic acid (PLA).

Boosting customer support in Europe

Additionally, after establishing a major warehouse in Antwerp, Belgium, and opening a Sales office in Düsseldorf, the next steps in expanding the European footprint of UniteChem will be to double its workforce and bring its technical support even closer to local customers.

Experienced market specialists with strong industry focus and covering additional languages will be added to the European Sales Team, ensuring faster response and lasting partnerships.

The Group is also looking at potential further logistic sites in other EU countries, e.g. Italy, to improve the availability of product samples and accelerate the time-to-market of innovative new applications.