International. PPG Industries reported net sales for the third quarter of 2011 of $3.8 billion, an 11% increase over the third quarter of last year. This implies that net income for the quarter increased to $311 million, or $1.96 per diluted share.
International. Using polyaspartic technology, the company Bayer MaterialScience developed a new gel coating that repairs and maintains the surface of water slides in good condition. This technology was developed with the water park industry in mind, which often suffers from the rapid wear and tear of its slides.
The exposure to the sun, the constant flow of water and the continuous service of the slide, encourage the caleo and deterioration of the brightness of these water attractions. Generally used coatings are vulnerable to these elements, which is why they are repeatedly in maintenance with a slow drying time.
However, the new gel layers with polyaspartic technology offer greater weather resistance and better retention of shine and color on the surfaces of the slides. In addition, they are low in volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and their shelf life is measured by years and not months.
Finally, one of the main features of this new coating is its quick drying, which allows the applicator and the operators of the park to meet the maintenance deadlines and return to functions in some cases of only 24 hours.
International. The global controversy continues due to the shortage of titanium dioxide in the world and the consequent increases in prices. In Latin America, the protagonist is Paraguay due to the delays in the start of operations of what would be one of the most important TiO2 plants in the world.
The deposit, located in the town of Minga Porã in upper Paraná, was inaugurated on the fifth of August and 100 tons of the material had been planned to be sent to South Africa for analysis and approval by October.
But in recent days the environmental authority of that country carried out an intervention that forced to stop the activities of assembly of machinery; the operating company was then in charge of showing the environmental impact studies carried out, but the approval decree to continue the operation has not yet been issued.
The company Metálicos y No Metálicos SRL of the Grupo CIC Resources Inc of Canada, operator of the mine, reported that it will not operate until there is a full approvalof the environmental authority: "We do not want to meet with surprises later with other institutions. We are waiting, we know that they are still within the required time," said lawyer Sandra Noguera, manager of Corporate and Administrative Relations of Metallic and Non-Metallic.
The investment in the mine amounts to US$5 million and is expected to be able to produce between five and ten million tons of titanium dioxide annually, for a period of one hundred years.
To the situation in Paraguay is added the recent announcement of the multinational DuPont, which will increase by US $ 0.15 each pound of TiO2 marketed in North America from the first of November.
It is expected that in the coming days the operation of the mine in Minga Porã will be approved, to improve the supply of titanium dioxide in America with a more affordable price.
Brazil. The Asociación Brasileña de Fabricantes de Pintura, Abrafati, announced that the focus of the next edition of the Abrafati fair will be the development of new raw materials and formulation solutions for "the paints of the future".
Spokespersons of the entity reported that, in line with the global trend, the ninth Seminar on Environmental Affairs and Safety will be held, with the participation of Mark Kurschner, president of the Product Care Association, a Canadian organization recognized for managing the most important program of collection, use and disposal of waste that since 1994 works with the paint sector in the province of British Columbia.
"I'll try to show how those initiatives worked in North America from every point of view, including regulation, cost and operation," Kurschner said, referring to his participation in the event.
To this forum is added the conference of the global director of Research and Development of Dow Coating Materials, John Klier; who will explain the processes related to the new raw materials available on the market including new additives, water-based chemistry and technologies to increase the covering power of architectural coatings.
The fair will take place in Sao Paulo, Brazil, between November 21 and 23, and it is expected that the main suppliers of raw materials from Brazil and North America will participate in it.
Guatemala. With an investment of US$18 million, the Solid Group inaugurated a new paint plant in the town of Puerto San José, with which it is expected to double the current production in all its brands.
During the opening ceremony of the plant, the president of the group, Michael Áscoli, said that with Superbia (name given to the industrial complex) the company will go from 13 million gallons of paint per year to 26 million.
Áscoli said that the company's plan is to increase sales in southern Mexico and the Dominican Republic, and then reach the Colombian market: "There we have to now, because of geography it is the market in which we want to compete with the goal of conquering the world."
The Superbia complex is located on a 65-block site where the multinational Texaco previously operated, will have a research and development laboratory, and its entry into operation will mean 100 new direct jobs that will be added to the 400 that the group already has.
The executive president of The Solid Group, Yara Argueta, said that the firm currently concentrates 95% of the Guatemalan market and 36% of the Central American market: "The goal is to reach 50% of regional presence and we think that next year we will grow between 3% and 5%".
The company's investment plan also involves an injection of an extra US$2.2 million to expand the warehouse that will be located in the old formulation plant and, in addition, improve the fleet of trucks and acquire state-of-the-art equipment.
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