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LISTED
biodiesel and oleochemicals producer Chemrez
Technologies Inc. said it will start exporting to
Southeast Asia and
Indochina this month a homegrown product called polycol-aqua.
Chief
operating officer Jun Lao said polycol-aqua is a pioneer
unsaturated polyester resin (UPRs), developed and made
in the Philippines that can be diluted with water
instead of a solvent such as styrene which is highly
flammable and uncomfortable to use because it gives off
strong fumes.
UPRs are
used to laminate and give strength and better
performance to fiberglass structures like water tanks,
speedboats, car body panels and spoilers, artificial
stone countertops for kitchens, artificial wood, stone
crafts and furniture.
“Typically, to make the resin saturate fiberglass mats,
it needs to be thinned down with a solvent such as
styrene,” said Lao, adding that their product is unique
since no similar product has so far been developed
locally and overseas.
Lao said
ChemrezTech is already in the process of qualifying
agents and distributors to handle polycol-aqua and other
specialty resins it has developed. “Initial target
markets will be countries in
Southeast Asia
and Indochina,” he said, adding that the first shipment
will leave this month.
In the
Philippines, the market for UPR amounts to 15,000 tons
per year, of which 40 percent may be replaced by polycol-aqua.
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