JSE-listed speciality chemicals group African Explosives and Chemical Industries’ (AECI’s) wholly owned water, energy and air solutions subsidiary ImproChem recently expanded its technology offering and market reach to provide water, energy and air quality management solutions to hydrocarbon processing and petrochemical plants throughout sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

ImproChem concluded the purchase and integration of Swiss speciality chemicals company Clariant’s African water treatment business on July 1. 

This deal included the sale of Clariant’s South African assets (Clariant BLWT) and its 50% shareholding in water treatment company Blendtech, which was Clariant’s broad-based black economic-employment equity partner in South Africa. 

“Clariant BLWT and Blendtech had strong regional capabilities and technologists that were complementary to ImproChem’s existing resources,” states ImproChem.

Meanwhile, ImproChem highlights that it bought the water and process technologies business of electric services and capital company General Electric (GE) in SSA in 2012. 

The GE deal included an exclusive distribution agreement for GE chemical and monitoring solutions in SSA, as well as a licence to manufacture GE’s range of speciality chemicals at ImproChem’s manufacturing facility in Umbogintwini, KwaZulu-Natal. 

Further, ImproChem says that this deal gave the company access to GE’s range of engineered water, wastewater, desalination and process treatment systems.

“Having access to GE’s global industry expertise, chemical technology and research and development capabilities, coupled with the expansion of ImproChem’s geographical coverage and resource base, has positioned the company to be a leading provider of high- quality, integrated solutions to the hydrocarbon industry in SSA,” asserts ImproChem MD Louis du Toit.

Moreover, he states that, the company’s focus is on value generation, whereby ImproChem works with customers to identify projects that will add quantifiable improvements to their bottom line.

Du Toit adds that ImproChem’s energy division offers industry-specific treatment technologies and engineered solutions for the upstream exploration and production, crude oil refining, synfuels and petrochemical industries. 

ImproChem energy division operations director Kamal Waghmarae states that, in a globally competitive petroleum and petrochemicals market, the company’s customers require innovative solutions to reduce operating expenses and improve efficiencies. 

“By using a combination of GE’s technology and our extensive local resources, ImproChem is well positioned to provide end-to-end chemical, monitoring, control and engineered solutions to improve plant-wide water use, and to effectively control corrosion, foaming and fouling challenges in synfuels and primary petrochemical process systems,” Waghmarae concludes.