CHINAPLAS 2010 Interview: Tiangang's Pursuit of Excellence in Light Stabilizers

    High-polymer materials pervade every field of daily life; to make them perform better and last longer, high-performance additives are indispensable. Beijing Tiangang Auxiliary Co., Ltd. is one of the earliest specialized R&D and manufacturing enterprises for UV light stabilizers in China. During CHINAPLAS 2010 (the International Plastics and Rubber Exhibition), Mr. Liu Jie, Chairman of Beijing Tiangang Auxiliary Co., Ltd., was interviewed by a reporter from CPRJ China Plastics & Rubber.

    The addition level of UV light stabilizers is usually only a few thousandths, yet it bears the heavy responsibility of ensuring the entire polymer system meets its service-life requirements. Liu Jie explained: 'Different customers have ever-changing requirements for material use, and each light stabilizer has its own character. Our company aims to provide fairly comprehensive solutions for customers' light-stabilization needs. We have focused on research into material weather-resistance additives for nearly 20 years, conducted extensive application tests, and tracked the usage of numerous customers. Our products include dedicated stabilizer additive packages and high-concentration functional masterbatches, which have been successfully applied in various films, injection-molded parts, flat yarns, fibers, and multiple engineering-plastic materials.'

    Speaking of the competitive advantage of light stabilizers, Liu Jie said: 'Each customer's requirements for light stabilizers differ; to maintain the company's competitive edge, besides producing general-purpose stabilizers, we must actively research and develop to meet the individual needs of different customers. It is not the case that our light stabilizer wins customers and market share just because it performs very well in one aspect. Some customers require that the product's service life after adding the stabilizer become longer—say ten or twenty years—so we must develop corresponding formulations. Some customers design their products for only a one-year service life; in that case, using a stabilizer that could make the product last ten or twenty years is meaningless. It is better to choose an additive with good cost-performance and good auxiliary properties in other aspects.'

    Tiangang pursues excellence and constant innovation. Liu Jie explained: 'We have developed the latest-generation TiangangTMT series of UV light stabilizers, which add some auxiliary properties to materials, such as low VOC, no blooming, no stickiness at high temperature, longer service life, and lower cost. They can be used in automotive interior and exterior trims and other fields, meeting customers' health considerations. In addition, the company introduced advanced European turnkey equipment and took the lead domestically in launching the FD series of dust-free granular light stabilizer products. This not only reduces dust and improves workers' working environment—making it more environmentally friendly—but also enables the light stabilizer to disperse more effectively in the material.'

    Regarding the impact of the financial crisis on the company, Liu Jie said: 'Our light stabilizers are exported to more than 20 major countries and regions around the world, mainly in South America and North America; the Middle East is an emerging market we are optimistic about. Under the general environment of the financial crisis, our exports were indeed affected to some extent; during this period our focus shifted to R&D. By 2009 our business had already seen a certain rebound.'