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drymix.info Newsletter 208/2018; ISSN Number 1613-0111; 22. May 2018

Opening Remark: Your Data is Yours ...
1. MEDMA Decides to Move to UAE, Trial Membership for Mortar Producers, New Board Elected
2. SEADMA Vietnam Kick-off Meeting in Ho Chi Minh City: 17. July 2018
3. The 2nd South American Drymix Mortar Meeting, Medellín, 21.8.18: Expocamacol Cooperation
4. MEDMA Contractor/Consultant Workshop on Construction Adhesives, Dubai, 20. September 2018
5. 13th Annual SEADMA Conference, 7. and 8. November 2018, Bangkok, Thailand
6. Synthomer Increases Prices for Vinyl Acetate Based Dispersions and Redispersible Powders in Europe
7. Celanese Expands Capacities of Acetic Acid and VAM
8. The “Battle for Sika” is over
9. Wacker Chemie Raises Prices for VAE Dispersions and RDPs in the Americas

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1. MEDMA Decides to Move to UAE, Trial Membership for Mortar Producers, New Board Elected

During The Annual General Members Assembly (AGM) of The Middle East Drymix Mortar Association MEDMA e.V., which took place on 7. May 2018 at Wacker Academy at Dubai Silicon Oasis (thanks a lot for the support!), some important decisions were made, the most important ones are listed below
a) Until today, MEDMA is still a German Association (“eingetragener Verein, e.V.”), the AGM voted unanimously to move to the UAE and form a Free Zone Enterprise within 2018.
b) Mortar manufacturers in the region are encouraged to (re-) join MEDMA, the AGM decided on a reduced fee for a trial membership (50% rebate, applies only for the first year), please enquire with us.
c) The new Board (Executive Committee) of MEDMA consists of Ammar A. Ali of Dow (also Treasurer until our next AGM in November 2018), Ferdinand Leopolder of drymix.info (also President), Ashwath Chakkur of Imerys Aluminates, Albert Thykadavil of Mapei, Somas Kanth of REDA, Prof. Dr. Mufid Samarai of Sharjah Research Academy (also Vice President until next AGM), Lavannya Radhukumar of Terraco and Mohammed Sanaobar of Wacker.

2. SEADMA Vietnam Kick-off Meeting in Ho Chi Minh City: 17. July 2018

The SEADMA Vietnam Kick-off meeting takes place on Tuesday, 17. July 2018 at the historic Continental Hotel, Ho Chi Minh City. Many drymix mortar producers (skim coats, renders/plasters, tile adhesives, specialty mortars) have already decided to join us and will exchange thoughts on the formation of SEADMA's local chapter for Vietnam. Industry support is highly appreciated for this meeting, please enquire with us.

Three lectures are being planned:
(tbd.): Industry Associations – the Key to Success in National Markets (Know How Transfer)
(tbd.): The Status of the Standardisation of Drymix Mortars in Vientam
(tbd.) SEADMA: About SEADMA as an Umbrella Organisation in SEA

Attendance is free of charge for drymix mortar manufacturers (up to two delegates per company, additional delegates pay only VND 4.200 | 150 € per person), but advance registration is absolutely mandatory. Industry observers pay VND 10.000 | 350 €, reduced to VND 7.500 | 270 € for MEDMA or drymix.info members.

3. The 2nd South American Drymix Mortar Meeting, Medellín, 21.8.18: Expocamacol Cooperation

The 2nd South American Drymix Mortar Meeting takes place on Tuesday, 21. August 2018 at Intercontinental Hotel, Medellín, Colombia. This Meeting gives drymix mortar experts the ideal occasion to meet, chat, network and grasp future trends for our industry. Sponsors are still welcome! Also, drymix.info is in contact with the organizers of Expocamacol, an important industry show, starting the day after our meeting (22.8.18, runs through Saturday, 25.8.18), most likely, our delegate package will include an exclusive invitation to this show – one more reason to come to Medellín in August. Expocamacol is featuring 450 exhibitors and expects over 60.000 visitors; Germany is this year's invited Nation (participation organized by the Camara Colombo-Alemana, “AHK”).

Registration for this event has already started, the admission to the 2nd South American Drymix Mortar Meeting is 350 Euro, reduced to 270 Euro for members of drymix.info. Mortar Manufacturers pay only 150 Euro. Online registration (visa or Mastercard required) is available on www.drymix.info. Special rebates are available for delegates of drymix mortar producers flying in from other Central American Nations, please enquire with us!

4. MEDMA Contractor/Consultant Workshop on Construction Adhesives, Dubai, 20. September 2018

During the Annual General Meeting of The Middle East Drymix Mortar Association MEDMA e.V. on 7. May 2018, we also had a Kick-Off Meeting to plan the MEDMA Contractor/Consultant Workshops (a series of events stretching well into 2019, we reported earlier), and found tremendous support for thihs new concept.

The first workshop, which targets consultants, archtiects, contractors and developers will take place on 20. September 2018 at Dubai Municipality (exact location tbd.), it will focus on Construction Adhesives with the following preliminary program (working titles only, also the names of all lecturers remain to be determined):

Definitions, Introduction (MEDMA)
Site Mix, inferior CTA, sustainability (Conmix)
Damages to be expected with inferior tile adhesives (Terraco)
Choice of the right tile adhesive (performance aspect), product selection (Mapei)

Attendance is by invitation only, details will go out shortly.

5. 13th Annual SEADMA Conference, 7. and 8. November 2018, Bangkok, Thailand

The South East Asia Drymix Mortar Association SEADMA invites to its 13th Annual Conference and Industry Showcase on Thursday, 8. November 2018 in Bangkok (the exact location is still tbd.). On the day before (Wednesday 7.11.18, from 13:00) SEADMA will organize a Mortar Technology Day, which is intended for SEADMA Members (manufacturers of drymix mortars only, SEADMA is open for suggestions) to invite their clients and to present their technologies to this audience of developers, consultants and architects. In the evening of 7.11.18, we plan a get-together of all delegates (sponsors wanted!). The next day, the 13th Annual SEADMA conference will take place in the “classic” way. The Call for Papers for this conference expires on 30. June 2018. Lecturers are reminded to consider submitting articles to our Technical Bulletin, which will be published on occasion of this conference.

Admission to The Mortar Technology Day is by invitation only, cost will be published to the sponsors individually. Admission to the 13th Annual SEADMA Conference is 350 €, reduced to 270 € for SEADMA, drymix.info or MEDMA Partners. Drymix mortar producers pay only 150 €. In order to encourage mortar manufacturers from abroad to join us in Bangkok, a further reduction of -50 € applies for mortar producers from outside Thailand.

6. Synthomer Increases Prices for Vinyl Acetate Based Dispersions and Redispersible Powders in Europe

Synthomer plc, London, Great Britain, recently announced that it is raising its prices for vinyl acetate containing dispersions and redispersible powders (RDP) in Europe by 6% (Emultex dispersions) and 8% (Axilat RDPs) starting 1. June 2018, or as existing contracts allow. According to Synthomer, the price increase became necessary in order to "(...)  recover margins to sustainable levels and ensure continuous high levels of investments in (...) products, processes, plants and services".

7. Celanese Expands Capacities of Acetic Acid and VAM

Celanese, Dallas, Texas, USA, has announced acetic acid and vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) capacity expansions and debottlenecking at serveral of the company’s manufacturing facilities around the globe. In Clear Lake, Texas, Celanese is starting up an additional 150.000 t of VAM capacity by the fourth quarter of 2018, bringing up the capacity at this location to 450.000 t per year. Several global acetic acid and VAM debottlenecking projects will add another 140.000 t per year of acetic acid and 150.000 t per year of VAM to the overall capacity of Celanese, those projects are expected to finalize within 2020.

8. The “Battle for Sika” is over

Sika AG (Baar, Switzerland), the Burkard Family and Compagnie de Saint-Gobain (Paris, France) have reached an agreement to settle their disputes over the purchasing of the shares of Schenker-Winkler Holding AG (SWH) by Saint-Gobain in December of 2014. Here is a short chronology (we reported earlier): Back in 2014, Saint-Gobain had purchased all Sika shares held by Schenker-Winkler Holding (16.1% of Sika’s capital but the stake commanded 52.4% of voting rights, “majority vote”). The Sika Management as well as some of Sika's shareholders challenged this purchase, especially the part where the majority votes were concerned. After representatives of SWH were blocked out of Sika's Board of Administration a legal battle was fought over the deal, contestations went through several court levels in Switzerland.

Here is a short summary of the recent agreement:
Saint-Gobain has acquired SWH from the Burkard Family.
Saint-Gobain is selling 6,97% of those shares to Sika AG for 1.770 mio Euro (CHF 2.080 mio), formerly equivalent to 23,7% of the majority voting rights.
Sika AG will destroy these shares (after a special General Shareholder Meeting on 11.6.18).
Saint-Gobain becomes the largest shareholder in Sika by holding 10,97% of stock (indirectly via SWH) for at least 2 years (lock-up) and will not substantially increase its shares in Sika within the next 4 years (stand-still).
Sika will do away with the majority votes, initially installed by the founders of the company to protect the company against foreign investors and install the principle "one share, one vote" (to be decided in the coming General Shareholder Meeting).
Sika and Saint-Gobain plan to intensify existing business relations.
Of course all parties will terminate all pending legal disputes.

9. Wacker Chemie Raises Prices for VAE Dispersions and RDPs in the Americas

Wacker Chemie AG, Munich, Germany, through its division Wacker Polymers, has announced a price increase for vinyl acetate-ethylene copolymer dispersions and redispersible powders (RDP, tradename Vinnapas) in its  Americas region. The company cites high raw material prices, especially for vinyl acetate monomer (VAM), and increased shipping and handling costs as reasons for this increase. The price increase becomes affective on 31. May 2018, or as contracts allow.

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Editor-in-Chief: Ferdinand Leopolder.

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Sincerely Yours, Ferdinand Leopolder