At an inauguration ceremony held in early spring in Newport, Del., Ciba Specialty Chemicals reinforced its dedication to the coatings industry in the NAFTA region by opening a new technical center. The center specializes in enhanced effects for coatings, including coloration, stabilization and processing effects. The new laboratories are a key part of a network of Ciba facilities supporting customers and new product developments around the world. The facility consolidates the additives for coatings expertise previously located at Ciba's Tarrytown, N.Y., site with its pigments and EFKA additives expertise located in Newport, Del.

Giordano Righini, global head of business line coatings, says, "The opening of this new facility with state-of-the-art laboratories will allow us to offer our customers further enhanced technical and business support. The coatings laboratories will benefit from synergies resulting from their location on the same site as Ciba Specialty Chemicals' inks and imaging, and colorants for plastics and fiber applications, as well as the Color Services business unit, which offers unique color matching services to the industry."

The new laboratory is the latest in a series of investments made by Ciba Specialty Chemicals at the Newport site over the past years. This key, state-of-the-art production plant manufactures high-performance quinacridone and diketo-pyrrolo-pyrrole (DPP) pigments. Greg Orange, head of business line coatings for NAFTA, says, "This consolidation at one site will help develop an even deeper knowledge of the coatings industry, customers and the challenges they face. ... By pooling our resources, we can provide the best technical support throughout the Americas."

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