Agreement with Milan-Based COIM S.p.A. also Gives Teknor Apex Access to TPU Products that It Can Use for Developing Compounds besides Those for Wire and Cable
PAWTUCKET, RI, U.S.A., September 22, 2010: The Italian chemical company COIM S.p.A. has appointed Teknor Apex Company to be the exclusive distributor of COIM’s Laripur™ thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) elastomer compounds to wire and cable manufacturers in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, it was announced today by Teknor Apex.
Teknor Apex’s Vinyl Division, a leading supplier of compounds for wire and cable, will supply the Laripur materials. The agreement with COIM also enables Teknor Apex to broaden its portfolio by using COIM’s TPU products to develop plastics compounds for use outside the wire and cable industry, according to Teknor Apex vice president Louis R. Cappucci.
"We are very pleased to engage in a strategic co-operation with a high-value partner like Teknor Apex,” said COIM’s Antonio Piroddi, division manager for Laripur TPU. “Their technical and commercial capabilities combined with COIM’s TPU expertise and broad product offering provides a valuable new resource for wire and cable customers in North America
The agreement between COIM and Teknor Apex provides North American wire and cable manufacturers with direct access to COIM’s diversified range of internationally specified TPU compounds, noted Louis Cappucci. “TPUs are particularly valuable for withstanding rugged end-use conditions because of their resistance to abrasion, chemicals, microbial attack, and hydrolysis, as well as flexibility at low temperatures.”
Laripur compounds are available in grades ranging in hardness from 60 Shore A to 75 Shore D. As elastomers they are inherently flexible and contain no plasticizers except as required for certain specialty formulations. Typical applications include cables for automotive sensor and antilock brake systems and for mining, seismic monitoring, oil exploration, and other end uses requiring ruggedness and cold weather performance.
