In the United Kingdom, Itaconix and chemical giant Nouryon have mutually agreed to terminate an agreement in which Nouryon exclusively distributes Itaconix’s biobased chelating agents for detergent applications.
“The parties signed a supply agreement in January 2019 after conducting encouraging joint technical assessments of Itaconix’s polymers in detergent applications,” according to a press release. “An initial marketing trial by Nouryon indicated, however, that the agreement was not mutually attractive for accessing available customer opportunities.” A separate deal for Itaconix to supply biobased polymer to Nouryon for personal care applications is not affected.
Detergent polymers sold directly to detergent producers by Itaconix generated £0.7 million (US$909,796) of the £1.1 million in 2019 unaudited revenues.
“We greatly appreciate our working relationship with Nouryon and look forward to continuing to work with them in the personal care market,” says Itaconix CEO John R. Shaw. “A healthy sign of an effective collaboration is knowing when a particular arrangement is unlikely to meet joint expectations. Our direct efforts to advance our customer projects for detergent polymers have produced strong revenue growth and a deep pipeline of new opportunities that we are confident will generate continued success in 2020 and beyond.”