Emerald Kalama Chemical, a business of Emerald Performance Materials, has made key new distribution appointments for the K-FLEX platform of fast fusing plasticizers and low-VOC coalescents. BCD Chemie will service the DACH region (Germany, Austria and Switzerland), while Caldic Spécialités will manage K-FLEX distribution in France.

"Emerald continues to build its infrastructure in the EMEA region in response to demand for more environmentally friendly materials that deliver the performance that manufacturers need," said Hans Dick Terhenne, K-FLEX business director for EMEA. "Both BCD and Caldic Spécialités are the right companies to provide customers with the service they need and to further develop our business in the region."

Terhenne continued, "BCD and Caldic Specialités provide extensive plasticizer and industry knowledge, a broad portfolio of related products and an ambitious team. Their existing technical knowledge of the market, coupled with their large customer base, will support the market introduction of K- FLEX in key growing market segments, such as sealants, water-based adhesives, vinyl and coatings. We expect to substantially grow the business in existing applications and to boost the development of new markets and applications."

K-FLEX products are utilized as highly effective plasticizers in adhesives, PVC plastisols and compounds, caulks, sealants and other latex polymer applications, as well as coalescents in paints, coatings, inks and graphic arts. , K-FLEX products are known as environmentally friendly specialty plasticizers and coalescents: low-VOC, readily biodegradable and REACH-registered. In addition, K-FLEX plasticizers and coalescents enhance key performance features, such as film formation, adhesion, processing characteristics and resistance of the end-product to oil, grease and water. This makes them a better value choice when compared to other industry standard plasticizers and coalescents.

The new distribution partners affirm the demand for K-Flex products in the region. Managing Director of BCD, Lars Schneider commented, "We are excited about the cooperation with Emerald Kalama as it is a unique fit to our existing product portfolio and will allow us to bring additional value to our customers with Emerald's technical innovative and environmentally sustainable product solutions."

Caldic Managing director Laurent Pasqualini agreed noting that the new indoor air quality regulations under ISO 16000-6 will drive further demand for the low-VOC K-Flex materials which have been approved under the EU Eco-label (RAL-UZ 12a) standard for low emissions and low pollutant paint and varnish.