The Unitika Group got its start in 1889, with the founding of Amagasaki Spinners, a historic first step in the start of Japan's textile industry. When the company changed its name to Dainippon Spinners in 1918, it was already helping to support the Japanese fiber industry as one of Japan's three largest textile makers. In 1969, the company merged with Nippon Rayon and the new company became known as Unitika. Today, Unitika's fiber and textile business and the dynamic array of its other business activities are made possible by the interactions among all the Group members. As Unitika continues to evolve into the future, its wealth of experience is an asset shared throughout the Group.At the Unitika Group, we are reinforcing our corporate constitution and enhancing our corporate value in accordance with our management principle of "contributing to the good of society by connecting people's lives and technologies." As an advanced material manufacturer, we engage in an extensive range of businesses: manufacture of films, resins, nonwoven fabrics and other polymer or synthetic fiber materials, glass fiber and other highly functional materials, all based on our original polymer technologies developed over many years; and in environment- and biotechnology-related businesses. Through these activities, we seek to become a company with a strong social presence that contributes to people's lives and to the natural environment. This is in fact our management vision.

With products ranging from citrus and baby soft to green apple, lemon lime, and raspberry, at least the company's factories shouldn't smell too bad. Bell Flavors & Fragrances manufactures flavors, botanical extracts, and aroma chemicals for the food, beverage, household products, personal care, and pharmaceutical industries. The company has manufacturing operations in Canada, China, Germany, Mexico, and the US. It's owned by the family of Edward Heinz, who bought Bell Flavors & Fragrances from its founder, William Bell, in 1967.

LATICRETE gets tile to latch on to walls and floors without slipping an inch. The company manufactures and sells cement and latex adhesives, epoxy grouts, and waterproof membrane products for ceramic tile and stone installation systems. LATICRETE operates around the globe; its customers include architectural firms, general contractors, and distribution companies. LATICRETE's products have been used in the Petronas Towers, the St. Louis Gateway Arch, and on Disney's world headquarters. The firm was founded by chemical engineer Henry Rothberg in 1956 and still is owned by the Rothberg family.

Allvivo Vascular develops biomimetic surface materials -- coatings for biomedical and research instruments. Founded in 1999 to develop research being done at the University of Utah and incubated at the University of Alabama, Allvivo Vascular has graduated and moved to California. The company's primary target market is to provide coatings for stents used in coronary interventions. Its products enable researchers to control cells' reactions to contact with tools whether in lab experimentation or surgical implantation (both ex vivo and in vivo, thus the name allvivo).

La Seda de Barcelona has a PET project. Although long associated with manufacturing artificial silk, La Seda de Barcelona (Spanish for "the silk of Barcelona") has turned its attention toward the production of basic chemicals such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET, used to make plastic containers), PTA (purified terephthalic acid), polyester fibers, and polyamide yarns. The company also makes ingredients used in detergents (ethylene oxide) and antifreeze (glycols). Its PET unit makes up half of La Seda's business. Customers include members of the textile, food, paper, paint, and cosmetics industries. La Seda de Barcelona was founded in 1925.

Effective technology has helped EFTEC market its products. Founded in 1985 as a joint venture between EMS-CHEMIE and H.B. Fuller's automotive division, EFTEC manufactures sealants, adhesives, and coatings for use by OEMs in the automotove industry. The company also supplies products to the automotive after-market for repairs, and to the bus and train industries. EFTEC has locations throughout Asia, Europe, and the US (through EFTEC North America). In 2007 EMS bought out Fuller's half of the joint venture for $80 million.

Sherwin Alumina, one of the largest alumina refineries in North America, extracts aluminum oxide, or alumina, from bauxite ore. It has an annual production capacity of nearly 1.5 million tons of smelter-grade and 300,000 tons of chemical-grade alumina. After the company refines the alumina it is then used primarily in the making of aluminum, though also as an abrasive and a refractory material. Sherwin Alumina's location on the Texas Gulf Coast allows it access to nearby aluminum smelting facilities and its own deepwater port. It is owned by Swiss metals giant Glencore.

McBride keeps Europe well-groomed and squeaky clean. The continent's largest manufacturer of private-label household and personal care products, McBride sells its products to most of Europe's major grocery chains. The company's array of household products includes laundry and dishwashing products, hard surface cleaners, bleach, and air fresheners. Its personal care items include shampoo, soap, shaving cream, deodorant, toothpaste, and nail and skin care products. McBride has about a dozen manufacturing facilities in a handful of European countries and operates through subsidiaries in Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the UK. It also exports products to Central and Eastern Europe.

Albemarle Corporation engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of engineered specialty chemicals. It operates in three segments: Polymer Additives, Catalysts, and Fine Chemicals. The Polymer Additives segment offers brominated, mineral, and phosphorus flame retardants that are used in plastic enclosures for consumer electronics, printed circuit boards, wire and cable, electrical connectors, textiles, foam insulation, and foam seating in furniture and automobiles. This segment also produces plastic and other additives, such as curatives, antioxidants, and stabilizers. The Catalysts segment provides refinery catalysts, including hydroprocessing catalysts, fluidized catalytic cracking catalysts, and additives; and polyolefin catalysts comprising aluminum and magnesium-alkyls, which are used as co-catalysts, as well as metallocene/single-site catalysts that aid in the development and production of new polymers.The Fine Chemicals segment offers performance chemicals, including elemental bromine, alkyl bromides, inorganic bromides, and various bromine fine chemicals, which are used in various industrial applications; and tertiary amines for surfactants, biocides, disinfectants, and sanitizers; potassium and chlorine-based products that are used in industrial applications; alkenyl succinic anhydride for paper-sizing formulations; and aluminum oxides that are used in various refractory, ceramic, and polishing applications. This segment also engages in fine chemistry services business, which offers custom manufacturing, research, and chemical scale-up services for companies. The company provides its products and services to manufacturers of consumer electronics, building and construction materials, automotive parts, packaging, pharmaceuticals and agrichemicals, and petroleum refiners in the United States and internationally. Albemarle Corporation was founded in 1993 and is based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Dover Chemical wants product manufacturers to dive into its pool of chemical ingredients. The company makes flame retardants, surfactants, and lubricants for a diverse range of industries, from rubber to personal care products to paints. A subsidiary of ICC Industries, Dover Chemical has manufacturing facilities in its home base of Dover, Ohio, and in Hammond, Indiana; it sells its products throughout the US. It is among the top US manufacturers of chlorinated paraffins, which are used to make flame retardants, and it is major producer of liquid phosphites in North America.

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