Solvay Strikes Chemical Deals

Solvay has agreed to buy Mississippi Polymer Technologies, developer of the Parmax family of thermoplastic polyphenylene polymers. MPT is a subsidiary of Maxdem, a company that specializes in commercializing early-stage technologies.

Solvay says MPT's polymers are transparent amorphous materials that offer "a remarkable and unique combination" of strength, stiffness, and hardness. Their chemical resistance, the company says, is comparable with that of semicrystalline materials and greater than that of any transparent polymer.

The deal follows Solvay's recent agreement to purchase the polymers division of India's Gharda Chemicals. According to Vincenzo Morici, Solvay's general manager for specialty polymers,"the recent agreement for the acquisition of Gharda's polymer division, and now MPT, will allow Solvay to offer a diverse set of polymers." These include polyamideimide, polyether ketones, high-performance sulfones, and polyphenylenes. Solvay plans to integrate the MPT line with its Solvay Advanced Polymers unit in Alpharetta, Ga.

Separately, Solvay's peroxides business unit Interox has formed a joint venture with China's Suzhou Electronic Materials Co. to produce high-purity hydrogen peroxide for the Chinese semiconductor industry. Solvay will hold 51% and SEMC 49% of the new company, which will be located in Suzhou.

The company will begin operations in the first half of this year. The new plant, which is nearing completion, will have initial capacity of 2,000 metric tons per year.