Penn Color Adds Standard and Custom Color Line, Opens Sites in Asia-Pacific

Color line combines performance and compatibility, new sites speed product development and supply

Penn Color added Singapore and Thailand to its network of overseas locations.

Masterbatch and color concentrates producer Penn Color Inc. recently unveiled the Astrad line of standard and custom colors. The company, of Hatfield, Pa., also opened two facilities to capitalize on growing demand in Asia-Pacific: a tech center in Singapore and a production plant in Rayong Province, Thailand. 

The colorants provide a range of benefits, including higher pigment loading, greater accuracy in reproducing color shades and versatility in coating applications. Importantly, says Phil Adams, business director of industrial coatings, the line delivers both high color performance and broad compatibility with resins, which benefits end products and manufacturing processes.  

The Astrad lineup includes:  

• Astrad-WB, with little or no volatile organic compounds and no APEOs (alkylphenol ethoxylate surfactants). A binder-free, water-based pigment dispersion, it provides high pigment loading, tight tolerances of shade and color for exact reproduction and compatibility over a range of products.   
• Astrad-UV, a 100 percent solid for a variety of monomer systems, with low-energy curing and wide application compatibility.  

• Astrad-IS, a broadly compatible acrylic resin system with high pigment loading and optimal rheological properties for universal tinting of solvent-based industrial coatings.  
• Astrad-AUTO, single-pigment dispersions that cover automotive-grade colors. Exhibiting high chroma and crystal-clear transparency, the grade gives paint formulators flexibility with solvent- and water-based dispersions, as well as basecoats and mid-coats.  

Asia-Pacific Product Focus 

The Singapore design center joins the company’s other technology centers in Hatfield, Pa., and Venray, the Netherlands. 

“This is a studio where designers, brand managers, business leaders, process engineers, converters, equipment manufacturers, materials suppliers and technical experts come together to harness their creative power and expertise,” says Kevin Putman Jr., president and CEO of Penn Color. The aim is to streamline development so production-ready products can be rapidly generated, he adds.  

To expand manufacturing in the region, Penn Color opened a state-of-the-art facility in Rayong Province. The plant produces colorant and additive masterbatches for supply in Asia-Pacific. Built with expansion in mind, the site incorporates technology to maximize the energy efficiency of its primary equipment, with solar-generated electricity powering most machines. 

Major end markets served are packaging, consumer goods, transportation and building products.