Tannery expansion almost complete

China

Published:  09 July, 2010

New fellmongery and finishing plant at Henan Prosper

Henan Prosper, the largest ovine and woolskin tanner in the world have announced on June 28 the latest phase of the tannery extension and upgrade at their plant and headquarters in Henan province, China.

The company began leather finishing at the beginning of March and the newly built fellmongery is expected to begin operations by the end of June, beginning of July.
The fully automated operation and production of both the new fellmongery and finishing plant is expected to be fully operational by the beginning of August. The company intend to host an official opening ceremony at the site around that time.
Henan Prosper supply some of the worlds leading brands and have a majority stake in a joint-venture with Spanish ovine tanners, Colomer moda

Lanxess invest in top coat technology

Germany

Specialty chemicals group Lanxess are focusing on optimising their top coat systems, especially those used for automotive leathers, and on expanding their market share. Lanxess’s Leather (LEA) business unit have invested in new technologies and has now purchased a new type of rollercoating machine for its technology centre in Leverkusen. Michael Franken, head of finishing in LEA’s product development application section, comments: ‘There is an increasing demand for new, environment-friendly processes for applying leather finishes and other coatings. We have therefore invested in product development so that we can play an active part in this trend.’ 

The Leather business unit’s applications technologists can use the new rollercoating machine to develop modern top coat formulations for their customers and help them with technical problems.
The new Gemata Topstar machine has specially developed rubber screen rollers for direct rollercoating. This makes it possible to apply top coats more accurately and with virtually no wastage. In addition to cutting costs significantly, this method of application also improves the environmental balance of the leather production process compared with conventional spraying methods, where as much as 50% of the formulation may be wasted due to over spraying.
‘Manufacturers of automotive leathers value our expertise. In this hotly contested, multi-billion euro market, the technical support that we can offer and the development of cost-effective, environment-friendly recipes for our leather customers are invaluable in helping us to remain competitive,’ says Franken.
Lanxess are a leading supplier of system solutions for the leather industry, from chemicals for all stages of the leather production process to full technical support at the customer’s plant. The leather business unit is part of Lanxess’s performance chemicals segment, which posted sales of euro 1,930 million in fiscal 2008.