Seeing strong growth potential in Brazil, NatureWorks aligns with Cromex to establish a robust sales channel in the rapidly expanding Brazilian market

June, 2013 -- NatureWorks, a world’s leading supplier of biopolymers with Ingeo™ fibers and plastics made from plants, has named Cromex S.A. as its Ingeo distributor in Brazil. Cromex will bring Ingeo to its broad customer base of thermoformers, film extruders and injection molders.

"Cromex S.A., a leader in color masterbatches, plastic additives and thermoplastic resin distribution, brings experienced plastics industry sales and technical personnel, as well as a broad customer base to the NatureWorks and Ingeo market expansion," said Salvador Ortega, the Latin America market development manager for NatureWorks. "We evaluated several distributors and found Cromex S.A. to be the strongest, best positioned and best aligned with our organization."

"We are pleased to expand our portfolio of products with the addition of Ingeo, the world’s leading plastic that is made from renewable materials," said Celso Ferraz, distribution director for Cromex. "Our collaboration with NatureWorks now gives converters and brand owners in Brazil the opportunity to develop a full range of innovative products with a reduced carbon footprint."

Cromex S.A. will distribute the comprehensive suite of Ingeo resins developed for the plastics markets. The company’s employees will provide technical support to converters and enable them to seamlessly transition plastics made from non renewable petroleum to Ingeo.

The manufacture of Ingeo emits 60 percent less greenhouse gas and requires 48 percent less energy as compared to such plastics as PET. NatureWorks claims that Ingeo offers converter and brand owners stable pricing as compared to the volatility of the plastics made from petroleum. Ingeo food service items, such as flatware, cups and utensils, are typically biodegradable in industrial composting facilities – enabling the diversion of organics from landfills, where the composting infrastructure exists. Rigid and film-based Ingeo packaging delivers performance advantages, according to NatureWorks. As an example, the company cites that clamshell packaging made with Ingeo requires 20 to 30 percent less material than a comparable package made from PET.

Source: NatureWorks / Cromex