Israel Chemicals (TASE: ICL: NYSE: ICL) today announced that its ICL Industrial Products division (ICL-IP) is investing $50 million to expand capacity at its Dead Sea bromine plant. Israel Chemicals is already the world's largest producer of bromine and bromine based products. The company has recently signed several strategic agreements with customers in Asia, for ICL-IP's elemental bromine and bromine compounds products.
ICL-IP will increase production of bromine compound TBBA by up to 25,000 metric tonnes annually. TBBA is mainly used in manufacturing printed circuit boards for the electronics industry. ICL-IP will also increase production capacity of FR1025 by 50%. FR1025 is an environmentally-friendly polymeric flame retardant used in the car industry. The company will also expand its isotank fleet by around 10%. The company expects extra annual revenue of up to $110 million from 2021.
ICL-IP, which has new agreements with Chinese companies, says that the continuing depletion of Chinese bromine resources, together with increased environmental regulatory pressure, is expected to result in greater motivation among Chinese customers to seek a reliable, long term supplier to ensure their uninterrupted production.
ICL-IP president Anat Tal said, "The strategic agreements we recently signed, and the resulting expansion of our flame retardants production capacity, testifies to ICL-IP's unparalleled position in the global bromine market, as well as our efficient operations, quality products, and high safety and environmental standards. Our capacity expansion is designed to allow us to meet existing contract requirements as well as to enter into new, long-term strategic contracts for the sale of our products with other customers, further strengthening our global market position."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on September 10, 2019
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