ICL IP Completing Second Production Facility for Polymeric Flame Retardant

TEL AVIV, Israel, April 22, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

ICL (TASE:ICL), a global specialty minerals company that fulfills essential needs of the world's growing population in the agriculture, food and engineered materials markets, today announced that its ICL Industrial Products segment (ICL IP) is progressing as planned with the project to increase its production capacity of FR-122P, its polymeric flame retardant (FR) to replace the HBCD FR which is currently the standard used in EPS/XPS insulation foams and which under EU regulations is to be phased out by August 2015.

ICL IP produces commercial quantities of FR-122P at its plant in the Netherlands, and is currently completing preparations to start up a 10,000MT production facility in Israel whose commencement is scheduled for the third quarter of 2014.

ICL IP's investment in production capacities resulted from the growing market awareness and positive feedback it obtained for its FR-122P product following extensive testing and evaluation processes conducted by potential customers during the past several years. ICL IP expects a ramp up in commercial sales during the second half of 2014. Industry tests have confirmed FR-122P's suitability for use in the full range of EPS and XPS insulation foams. ICL IP has the potential to further increase production capacity for FR-122P in a relatively short period of time in the event of further market demand.

ICL IP's production of FR-122P derives from the European Union's ban on the use of HBCD, which will take effect in August 2015. To this end, in January 2012 Bromine Compounds Limited (ICL IP) signed a licensing agreement with Dow Global Technologies LLC for the manufacture of FR-122P.

Mr. Ilan Elkan, ICL IP's VP Flame Retardants, said, "We are very encouraged by the positive response to FR-122P by the EPS and XPS industries. Our production will enable them to transit from HCBD smoothly within the timeframe established by the EU. We are investing heavily in this innovative, sustainable polymeric product so that our customers can continue to produce their downstream products and meet all fire safety standards.  ICL IP's production of FR-122P  further demonstrates ICL IP's commitment to lead the industry in offering innovative, environmentally-friendly fire safety products that meet increasingly stringent regulatory standards."

About ICL Industrial Products  

ICL-IP, one of ICL's (TASE: ICL) three operating segments, manufactures and markets a broad range of industrial chemicals based on bromine, magnesia, chlorine and salts. ICL-IP's bromine-based products are life-saving components that reduce the mercury emissions of coal-burning power stations, enhance the safety of deep-water oil and gas drilling operations, and minimize the fire hazard associated with consumer electronics, automobiles, furniture, insulation, and other widely-used products. In addition, the pharmaceutical industry uses bromine as an intermediary in the manufacture of drugs for the treatment of cancer, epilepsy, heart disease and other life-threatening conditions.

ICL-IP is the industry's leading bromine company, and supplies approximately one third of the world's elemental bromine. It employs approximately 2,500 employees in Israel and throughout the world.

About ICL  

ICL, a global manufacturer of products based on specialty minerals that fulfill humanity's essential needs, primarily in three markets: agriculture, food and engineered materials.

The agricultural products that ICL produces help to feed the world's growing population. The potash and phosphates that it mines and manufactures are used as ingredients in fertilizers and serve as an essential component in the pharmaceutical and food additives industries. The food additives that ICL produces enable people to have greater access to more varied and higher quality food. ICL's water treatment products supply clean water to millions of people, as well as to industry around the world. Other substances, based on bromine and phosphates help to create energy that is more efficient and environmentally friendly, prevent the spread of forest fires and allow the safe and widespread use of a variety of products and materials.

ICL benefits from a broad presence throughout the world and proximity to large markets, including in emerging regions. ICL operates within a strategic framework of sustainability that includes a commitment to the environment, support of communities in which ICL's manufacturing operations are located and where its employees live, and a commitment to all its employees, customers, suppliers and other stakeholders.

ICL is a public company whose shares are traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE: ICL). The company employs approximately 12,000 people worldwide, and its sales in 2013 totaled circa US$6.3 billion. For more information, visit the company's website at http://www.icl-group.com

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SOURCE ICL