It will offer highly-tailored waxes produced using metallocene catalysis

Clariant’s Pigments & Additives is investing E20m in an innovative wax production plant that will use metallocene catalysis. The plant in Frankfurt, on the former site of Hцchst, is projected to make “several thousand metric tonnes” annually from 2006. It will be the first large-scale plant to use metallocene catalysis in wax production, according to Clariant.

Dr Hans-Friedrich Herrmann, project manager for metallocene at Clariant, said: “These promising new products have tremendous market potential because their properties are tailored exactly to their respective application.”

The Licocene range of waxes comprises mainly polypropylene types, as well as waxes based on polyethylene and co-polymers. They can be used as dispersion agents in the production of masterbatch, in adhesives and sealants, and also in fibre-reinforced compounds. Clariant has operated a pilot production plant in Germany since 1998.