Brenntag opens rubber service facility in Italy

ERJ staff report (TP)

Turin, Italy − Brenntag, the “global market leader” in chemical distribution, has opened a new specialised rubber service facility in Orbassano (in the Province of Turin), a “strategically ideal” location close to the national automotive industry in Italy.

The company said in an international expanding rubber industry, this new site enables it to service customers not only throughout Europe but on a global level. Within an area of 12,000 square metres − a warehouse, laboratory, new office, and blending and packaging installations are located.

Karsten Beckmann, CEO Brenntag Europe, Middle East and Africa, said: “The new site is one further step in our specialties strategy which we strive to strengthen continuously. We are glad to offer our customers a broad range of value added services through this new facility. This investment demonstrates once more Brenntag’s strong industry dedication in the rubber market coupled with highly consistent and professional services. This will be further fuelled by the establishment of a pan European [rubber] business unit in the first quarter of this year”.

The state-of-the art equipment allows Brenntag to cover the whole process for the treatment of raw materials − from handling rubber liquid and solid additives, to chemical analysis in the laboratory and storing up to almost 4,000 pallets in different rooms depending on the storage conditions required by the materials.

Special features of the new operations are pre-packs, weighed and filled to customer requirements and all ingredients for a certain formulation, and then combined into a bag-in-bag. The customer can directly process this bag-in-bag without having to unpack it. The plastic bags disperse over the course of the mixing, making the production process for the customers more efficient and safer.

Another activity that has seen a significant increase in terms of capacity is the production of ‘dry liquids’, e.g. liquid additives absorbed on inert carriers to give a better and safer handling.

Brenntag is involved in full-line chemical distribution. Linking chemical manufacturers and chemical users, the firm provides business-to-business distribution solutions for industrial and specialty chemicals globally. With over 10,000 products and a “world-class” supplier base, Brenntag offers one-stop-shop solutions to more than 170,000 customers. The value-added services include just-in-time delivery, product mixing, formulation, repackaging, inventory management, drum return handling as well as technical support.

Headquartered in Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany, the company operates a global network with more than 450 locations in over 70 countries. In 2012 the company had global sales of €9.7bn and has nearly 13,000 employees.