Producer
Vibrantz Technologies (formerly Prince/Erachem)
U.S. specialty materials company (private, HQ Houston TX); major EMD producer following acquisition of Erachem manganese business from Eramet (France). Erachem had been one of Europe/North America's significant EMD producers supplying alkaline battery makers including Duracell and Energizer. Vibrantz (formerly Prince International) is now the primary Western EMD alternative to Asian producers. Also produces other specialty materials including pigments and performance materials for coatings.
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EMD (Electrolytic Manganese Dioxide)
30%Performance Pigments & Specialty Coatings
40%Glass & Ceramic Materials
20%Electronic & Functional Materials
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Did you know2023
Vibrantz Technologies supplies EMD for alkaline battery cathodes (consumer battery supply chain) AND specialty pigments for automotive OEM coatings (automotive supply chain) AND specialty glass materials for home appliance enamel coatings (appliance supply chain). The same specialty materials company serves the consumer battery, automotive painting, and home appliance coating supply chains -- three industries with entirely separate procurement organizations. Vibrantz's Erachem EMD and its bismuth vanadate pigments for automotive coatings are sold to entirely different customer organizations that likely have no awareness they share a common specialty materials supplier. A Vibrantz financial event (private equity exit, debt restructuring, or acquisition) or a manufacturing disruption at its Belgian or South African EMD facilities would simultaneously affect battery maker EMD sourcing and automotive/appliance coatings supply.
Vibrantz Technologies ↗Origin2023
Vibrantz Technologies was formed through the 2022 rebranding of Prince International -- a private equity-backed (Groupe Bruxelles Lambert) specialty materials company that had assembled a portfolio of pigment, specialty coating, and manganese materials businesses through acquisitions. The critical acquisition for the battery supply chain was Erachem's manganese operations from Eramet (the French mining and metallurgy company). Eramet's Erachem division had operated EMD production plants in Belgium (Olen) and South Africa as part of a Western-world manganese supply chain that provided non-Asian EMD to Duracell, Energizer, and Panasonic battery plants in Western markets. When Vibrantz (Prince International) acquired Erachem's manganese business, it became the primary non-Chinese EMD supplier to the Western alkaline battery industry. The strategic significance: as China's EMD market share approached 60-70%, Vibrantz/Erachem represented the remaining Western production capacity that battery makers could source to reduce Chinese EMD dependence.
Vibrantz Technologies ↗