PASADENA, Texas, January 22, 2018 (Newswire) –At a November meeting of business leaders in Wisconsin, Mike Clumpner, Chairman of privately held Nova Molecular Technologies discussed how Nova has quickly achieved a sustainable and advantaged position as one of the world’s largest manufacturers of Acetonitrile, a solvent used widely in pharmaceutical and agricultural chemical processing as well as in extractive purifications.
Nova is a relatively small $60 million sales company, competing in acetonitrile with INEOS, a US and Europe manufacturer with 25% of the worlds capacity; with Asahi Kasei, a Japanese and Korean supplier with 20% of the worlds capacity and with CNPC Jilin of China with 11% of the world capacity. Nova has 8% of the world’s production capacity at plants in Houston and South Carolina.
Ineos, Asahi Kasei and CNPC Jilin all produce co-product acetonitrile in their acrylonitrile plants. Nova purchases acetonitrile co-product from other acrylonitrile producers but also produces from recovered byproduct acetonitrile from large consumers/users of acetonitrile, then returns the isolated and recovered acetonitrile to their specification. Nova also recovers smaller streams of byproduct acetonitrile for use in petroleum extraction processes. For virgin grades of acetonitrile, Nova utilizes segregated and isolated processes for co-product acrylonitrile derived acetonitrile. This ensures that byproduct recovery processes and virgin production are never commingled and preserves quality and product registrations for Nova customers.
Nova’s entry into the acetonitrile business in 2012 utilized existing distillation recovery and purification capacity at our two plants. The largest US users of acetonitrile quickly recognized the opportunity to work with Nova to recover high quality acetonitrile, reduce their costs and assure their supply. By 2017, Nova had achieved the position as the world’s fourth largest acetonitrile producer.
“With two US plants, reliable sources of crude acetonitrile steams, and Technical and High Purity grades, Nova is the logical primary or alternate supplier for any US user of acetonitrile,” said Mr. Clumpner. Nova’s acetonitrile sales growth has been helped by regular supply shortages, both in the US and Asia, that have left consumers scrambling for supply. In addition, Nova’s “recovery and return” concept has given the largest consumers assurance of supply for a portion of their acetonitrile purchases, as well as lower costs and with a bonus of sustainability by preserving the world’s resources.
Nova expects further growth in North American acetonitrile markets in the next few years due to its advantaged and sustainable niche position, an enviable position for both Nova and their customers and partners.
For more information, please contact sales@novamolecular.com, or visit the Nova Molecular Technologies website at www.novamolecular.com.
