Surfactants For Construction Industry

Univar has formed a partnership with Huntsman Performance Products to supply Surfactants the construction industry in the Nordic countries.

The construction industry in the Nordic countries is poised to benefit from a new agreement between Huntsman's Performance Products division and Univar AB that will see Huntsman's full range of surfactants being distributed throughout the region by Univar for the first time.

The two partners have sampled successfully a number of potential customers with concrete additives and are now in negotiation over long term contracts.

Univar Nordic and Huntsman's surrfactants business formed their partnership in October 2001 and since then have been consolidating and developing further their businesses in the detergent and personal care markets.

Now they will bring a structured approach to the supply of surfactants to the building and construction industry, with Huntsman's extensive product range supported in the market by Univar's market knowledge and geographic strength.

"Univar is an established presence in the Nordic region and can provide total coverage of the market," explains Nordic Product Manager Johan Frohagen.

"We already distribute a complementary selection of products to the construction market and have established long term relationships with many of the potential clients for Huntsman's surfactants." Univar will distribute the Huntsman surfactants from its existing warehouses in Sweden (Malmo, Stockholm and Gothenburg), Denmark (Copenhagen), Norway (Moss) and Finland (Rauma).

Univar has staff dedicated to the Huntsman range and is able to provide full customer service support.

"Univar has helped develop our detergent and personal care businesses over the last 18 months," says Huntsman's sales manager with responsibility for the Nordic countries.

"Now we expect their geographic and marketing strengths to be effective in the support of our comprehensive range of high quality surfactants dedicated to the construction market." The primary Huntsman products for the construction market are concrete additives such as water retention aids and air entrainers.

Prominent in the company's portfolio are the DEHSCOFIX NSF (naphthalene sulphonate formaldehyde) condensates for water retention applications, EMPICOL lauryl sulphate and NANSA sulphonate ranges of air entrainers.

Future possibilities for the Univar - Huntsman partnership in the Nordic region include the supply and distribution of surfactants to the mining and pulp and paper industries.

Univar Univar is the leading independent chemical distributor in the world.

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