On January 22, 2008, Huber Engineered Materials announced that it had finalized an agreement to purchase the production-related assets of Changzhou City Mingfan Fine Chemical Co., Ltd. (Hengshanqiao Town, Wujin City, Jiangsu Province), which produces various grades of precipitated silica for oral care markets. According to a press release from HEM, Mingfan is a leading Chinese producer of dental silicas. It will continue to manufacture its existing line of dental abrasives for Huber under a toll arrangement. The agreement will allow HEM to offer local silica manufacturing for its Asian customers.
Huber Engineered Materials is currently building a 40,000 tonne/year dental silicas plant in Qingdao, China. The plant was announced in March 2007 and groundbreaking occurred in December 2007. The plant is expected to come on-stream in 2Q 2009.
The press release on the acquisition is here.
On January 2, 2008, Huber Engineered Materials announced a price increase for its specialty grade silica and silicates, effective February 1 or as contracts allow. Prices will increase an average of 5% to 8%, driven by higher raw material, energy, and regulatory costs.
The press release on the price increase is here.