UniteChem Group, the world’s leading supplier of light stabilizers for plastics in a broad range of high-end industrial applications, will give a strong debut at K 2022, presenting itself as the industry’s pre-eminent manufacturer of a complete portfolio of high-quality additives with a dedicated local footprint in all major markets of the plastics industry. The company’s ambitioned expansions in production capacity, new products, R&D and customer support logistics will be featured during K 2022 from October 19 to 26 at Booth E33 in Hall 8a on the grounds of Messe Düsseldorf, Germany.

“Our investments extend across all levels to make sure that we will be uniquely positioned to serve our customers’ current and future needs with maximum reliability and security of supply,” says Junyi Lin, CEO of UniteChem Group. “We are the world’s only producer of light stabilizers with a completely back-integrated value chain, which helps us weather raw material supply fluctuations and keep offering our products at competitive prices to support our customers’ businesses. Firmly rooted in our DNA, our core values of Trust, Partnership and Excellence are laying the foundation for further global and sustainable growth by meeting local market needs.”

Expanding support network & IPO
UniteChem will continue expanding its local presence worldwide, with new operations to be established in the U.S. market through a new sales office in New Jersey and warehousing capabilities in Savannah, Georgia becoming operational by end of 2022. A second European warehouse in southern Europe (Italy) is planned and will complement the existing logistics hub at Antwerp, Belgium. The security of supply is backed by shipments from several different key ports in China, including Guangzhou, where UniteChem operates a major warehouse, as well as Shanghai, Qingdao, Tianjin and Lianyunyang.

As global demand is growing fast, so is the Group’s team. In Europe, sales professionals with a strong industry focus and various local language capabilities have been hired to bring UniteChem’s technical support even closer to customers and enable faster response to their specific needs. In addition, a modern new R&D Center was recently opened at Shanghai, raising the number of independently operating laboratories to five. UniteChem regularly allocates five percent of its total revenue to R&D.

In order to secure the funding of all these and future investments, the Group has filed for initial public offering (IPO) at the Shanghai Main Stock Exchange and expects to become officially listed by end of 2022.

Multiple new performance additives showcased at K 2022
UniteChem Group is taking the opportunity of K 2022 to showcase various new performance additives, spearheaded by its recently commercialized HALS LS-2020 for fibers and webs of polyolefin and other polymer materials and HALS LS-119 mainly for agricultural, greenhouse and engineering polymer applications in automotive etc.

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

Moreover, UniteChem will also share a first glimpse on new chemistries in the pipeline, such as N-OR HALS products to meet the demands of the important European agricultural films industry, and various nucleating agents for polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), engineering polyester (PBT) and polylactic acid (PLA) formulations.

Major investments in sustainable global production
Putting safety and environmental protection first, UniteChem is continuously monitoring, optimizing and upgrading the sustainability of its production infrastructure, implementing dedicated recycling, reuse and reduction initiatives in line with the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.

This includes extensive DCS automatic control and SIS safety instrumentation systems, wastewater treatment plants capable of managing up to 1,800 m³ of COD, salt, ammonia and nitrogen loads per day, and state-of-the art hazardous waste management with a capability of 8,800 tons of solid chemical waste treatment per year and 280,000 m³ of waste gas treatment per hour using regenerative thermal oxidization (RTO) technology.

Besides regular third-party audits, a new ESG team has been set up to incorporate and oversee the Group’s sustainability, circular economy and environmental protection initiatives across all operations. Highlights among these are the adoption of a novel, environmentally-friendly and more sustainable technology for synthesizing benzotriazole UV absorbers in a proprietary catalytic hydrogenation reduction process at UniteChem’s expanding Suqian (Jiangsu) site.

Thanks to its solid backward integration, which provides extensive production flexibility, high reliability and maximum quality control, UniteChem has capacities of 80,000 tons for intermediates and 40,000 tons for finished products, all scheduled to be significantly expanded in scale as well in portfolio by 2024.

With the construction of two new plants at Shengjin and Shengrui in Jiangsu province and another at Nanchong in Sichuan province proceeding as planned, the capacity for HALS (hindered amine light stabilizers) and UV absorbers will be increased by 16,000 and 15,000 tons, respectively – plus 20,000 tons for other key performance additives, including flame retardants, anti-oxidants and nucleating agents.

Visit UniteChem during K 2022 in Hall 8a at Booth E33 to meet the Group’s team, learn more about their expanded service and product offering and discuss how your business can benefit from their growing global and local footprint.

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