Arch Chemicals

ARCH Chemicals, Inc.

(NYSE|ARJ), based in Norwalk, Connecticut [http://hoovers.com/free/search/simple/xmillion/index.xhtml?query_string=Arch+Chemicals&which=company&x=83&y=14&page=1] Arch Chemicals was founded in 1999 when old, stalwart smokestack manufacturing conglomerate Olin Corporation spun off its specialty chemicals businesses as Arch Chemicals. Selling off non-strategic businesses and investing in its core biocides business, Arch has become somewhat of a David among the Goliaths of the global chemical industry. With approximately $1.5 billion in annual sales, Arch is small compared to rivals such as Dow Chemical, DuPont and BASF, but the company has shrewdly build market-leadership positions in some key global niches. (Half of Arch's revenues and half of its 3,000 employees are located outside of North America.)

The company, for example, is the world's second largest supplier of swimming pool and spa sanitizers; it has the world's most popular antidandruff agent; it is the world's leading supplier of advanced wood preservatives; and it is a leader in supplying biocides for interior paints, wallboard and other building products, where they deter the growth of mold and mildew.

Arch defines itself as The Biocides Company. It broadly defines biocides to include products that destroy or control the growth of harmful microbes. Its focus is in water, treated wood, building products, antidandruff shampoos and cosmetic ingredients, and health and hygiene applications. Arch's four biocides businesses are clustered within its core Treatment Products business segment:

Water Products. Arch's sanitizers and related treatment chemicals destroy harmful, even life-threatening microbes in recreational pool and spa water, drinking water, and water used in commercial and industrial applications, such as food disinfection and beverage bottle cleaning operations.

Wood Protection. Our advanced preservatives protect wood from, among other things, fungal decay and insect damage.

Industrial Biocides and Health and Hygiene Products. Our biocides are incorporated into industrial, commercial and consumer products worldwide to provide protection against fungus, bacteria, viruses, algae and other harmful microbes. For instance, Arch supplies biocides for use in paints and other building products to deter the growth of mold and mildew, leading causes of the Sick Building Syndrome.

Personal Care Products. Our biotechnological active ingredients, botanicals, preservatives and other cosmetic ingredients provide healthful benefits in hair and skin care products. Arch's zinc Omadine®, for example, is the world's most popular active antidandruff shampoo agent.

The core competencies distinguishing these businesses are:

Superior chemical formulation skills. This means developing new products and finding new applications for existing ones.

Regulatory and toxicological expertise. In fact, the company claims that a highly regulated environment to ensure human health and safety is a key competitive advantage.

In-depth marketplace knowledge and technical customer support capabilities.

The Treatment Products segment also includes the non-biocides Arch Industrial Coatings, which supplies advanced stains, lacquers, topcoats, finishes and other coatings for use in fine home and office wood furniture and other products.

Finally, the non-strategic erformance Products business segment encompasses a variety of specialty chemicals, including performance polyols for coatings, adhesives, sealant and elastomers; glycols for antifreeze, cleaning products and consumer goods; and hydrazine propellants and hydrates.

The following is a press release that the company issued in early 08.

Norwalk, CT -- Arch Chemicals, Inc. is extending manufacturing capabilities for key biocide products and intermediate ingredients in China, the U.S. and Ireland to serve growing demand worldwide in the Preservation & Protection and Health & Hygiene markets.

"With global demand at near-record levels for Arch biocides used in a variety of health & hygiene and industrial applications, we are expanding biocides capacities on three continents," said Louis S. Massimo, Arch Chemicals' Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. "We believe it is essential to have manufacturing and customer-support facilities in place wherever our major customers do business."

To satisfy rapidly growing demand in China for Arch's antidandruff agent, Arch is building a new, state of the art, manufacturing facility in Suzhou, China, with start-up expected in late 2008. The Company's zinc Omadine® is the world's most popular antidandruff agent, which reflects its combination of high antimicrobial efficacy and safety. New laboratory and technical customer-support facilities to support this new manufacturing facility and regional customer needs are expected to be completed in 2008.

In early 2008, Arch also successfully started up a new copper and zinc Omadine® powder drying and milling facility at the Suzhou complex to support growth in the marine paint sector.

Arch's biocides manufacturing facilities in Rochester, New York and Swords, Ireland are also expanding capacities to insure adequate worldwide supply of the key intermediate 2-Chloropyridine (2-PCl) and Omadine® finished products for regional consumption.

Arch is currently doubling 2-PCl manufacturing capacity at its Rochester, New York location, already the world's largest 2-PCl production facility. 2-PCl is the key intermediate used to produce the Company's zinc, copper and sodium Omadine® biocides. These biocides are tailored for use in antidandruff shampoos, marine antifouling hull paints, metalworking fluids, and building products such as wallboard, ceiling tiles and paints and coatings, where they deter the growth of mold and mildew.

SOURCE: ARCH Chemicals Inc.

Contact Informaion

Arch Chemicals, Inc.501 Merritt 7Norwalk, CT 08851

Dale N. WalterManager, Corporate CommunicationsArch Chemicals, [e-mail]

ARCH Chemicals, Inc 1955 Lake Park Drive Suite 100Smyrna, Georgia 30080 UNITED STATES Phone: [phone] Fax: [phone] Contact: Mike Nielsen

External links

* [http://www.archchemicals.com/Fed/Corporate/About/ Arch Chemicals home page]
* [http://www.wateronline.com/article.mvc/Arch-Chemicals-Expanding-Global-Biocides-Manu-0001?VNETCOOKIE=NO]