Chemtura to support emerging technologies in semicon, PV and single-site catalyst markets

BERGKAMEN, GERMANY: On its 50th anniversary of production excellence in Germany, Chemtura Organometallics GmbH, a subsidiary of US-based Chemtura Corp., announced a number of substantial investments to satisfy the growing requirements and demand for precursors in the electronics, semiconductor and photovoltaic markets, and organometallic catalyst components for the olefin polymerization market.

“We are further expanding our Bergkamen plant to provide a sustainable supply for tomorrow’s global customer requirements of the specialty chemicals trimethylaluminum (TMA), methylaluminoxane (MAO), and diethylzinc (DEZ),” said Dr. Ulrich Stewen, GM of Chemtura and President of Organometallics.

“This capacity expansion complements our plans for regional footprints for the production of organometallic specialty chemicals in the Middle East and also in Korea, where we have just announced a memorandum of understanding to form a joint venture with UP Chemical Co. Ltd. We are proud to say that as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of our organometallics production, Chemtura Organometallics is well-positioned for the future by these investments in new product capacities and increasing our regional footprint.”

In Bergkamen, a fully backwards-integrated production line with increased DEZ capacity started operations in the second quarter of 2010. It is designed to satisfy the growing demand for custom-made, high-purity DEZ in semiconductor and thin-film photovoltaic applications. Additional world-scale production lines for TMA and MAO will become operational during 2012 to continue supporting the increasing customer demand.

The new capacity for MAO has the flexibility to produce optimal activator grades, tailor-made to individual customer requirements. The capacity expansions for different TMA grades will meet the rapid growth in demand for specialty applications in the electronics, pharmaceutical and polymer industries.

Chemtura’s production technology will have integrated recycling capabilities for a sustainable supply based on readily available raw materials. In addition, thanks to flexibility in container design, Chemtura will continue to satisfy individual customer needs during scale-up and large-scale commercial production.

Dr. Stewen continued: “As a leading producer of high-quality, highly efficient, tailor-made organometallics, Chemtura offers a sustainable supply of essential products and services that enable industries to smoothly transition to clean and renewable energy generation, to support the mass production of LEDs via high-quality TMA precursors and raw material, and to make high-efficiency activators accessible for the next generation of single site catalysts (SSCs).

“Through permanent innovation, selective growth and future-oriented planning, we work in partnership with our customers in the pharmaceutical, solar, semiconductor, catalyst, glass and nuclear industries to meet their unique and often proprietary requirements.”