CHICAGO (Aug. 7, 4:30 p.m. EDT) — Sartomer Co. Inc. is finding that its rubber-based products can be used in more and more plastic applications, and the company is expanding its Asian business.
The Exton, Pa.-based company was exhibiting for the first time at NPE. Sartomer supplies specialty chemical additives for ultraviolet-light and electron-beam peroxide, two-part epoxy/amine, polyurethane and thermal curing systems.
“Rubber adhesives has always been big business, but with the development of [thermoplastic elastomers and thermoplastic urethanes], we are making the crossover more to plastics,” Chuck Mateer, marketing manager for Ricon and SMA plastics at Sartomer, said at NPE 2006 in Chicago.
The company introduced a TPU based on unique polybutadiene polyols in March 2005. It is used in films, adhesives, sealants and coatings, and Mateer said it is gaining more acceptance for use this year, especially in Europe.
Also, he said the company keeps boosting its resources in Asia. A new monomer and oligomer manufacturing facility in Nansha, China, is on track to be completed in 2007. The company also has opened a laboratory in Nansha.
In Tokyo, the company opened a sales and support office in January, and Sartomer is making efforts to increase resources in India as well.