Clariant Masterbatches will increase annual concentrate capacity

Clariant Masterbatches will increase annual concentrate capacity by 8 million pounds by installing new extrusion lines in Canada and Mexico. Plants in Toronto; Delta, British Columbia; and Naucalpan, Mexico, each will receive a new twin-screw extrusion line. The cost of the expansion was not disclosed.

“Our Canadian facilities are now well-equipped to handle our rapidly expanding business,” said Dragos Gavriluta, vice president and general manager of Clariant Masterbatches Canada.

In recent years, Holden-based Clariant Masterbatches has grown in Canada by acquiring Quality Colour of Delta and a portion of Action Colour of Oakville, Ontario. The firm also consolidated its primary Canadian operations into a 72,000-square-foot site in Toronto in 2002. In Mexico, Clariant Mexico SA de CV head Miguel Ramirez said the market “is strong, and this new extrusion line will allow us to grow along with it.”

“Free-trade agreements … give Clariant Mexico access to raw materials at favorable prices. This, combined with competitive labor rates in Mexico, gives Clariant Mexico an important advantage in local and regional markets,” he said. In eight years, Clariant Mexico has grown from a single line and five employees to three lines and more than 45 employees.

Clariant is one of the world’s largest color and additive concentrate makers, with 2003 sales of about $832 million. The firm is a unit of Clariant AG of Muttenz, Switzerland.