Itaconix and Nouryon terminate agreement over detergent polymers

Specialty polymer company Itaconix announced on Friday that itself and Nouryon have mutually agreed to terminate their agreement for Nouryon to exclusively distribute Itaconix polymers with chelating properties worldwide for detergent applications.

The AIM-traded firm said the pair signed a supply agreement in January 2019, after conducting “encouraging” joint technical assessments of Itaconix's polymers in detergent applications.

An initial marketing trial by Nouryon indicated, however, that the agreement was not mutually attractive for accessing available customer opportunities.

The company said its agreement to supply Itaconix's proprietary bio-based polymer to Nouryon for personal care applications would continue unchanged.

Its direct sales of polymers and pipeline of active customer projects with detergent brands and producers was also continuing unchanged.

Detergent polymers sold directly to detergent producers by Itaconix generated £0.7m of the £1.1m 2019 unaudited revenues the company announced last week, representing 68% of total revenues and 37% revenue growth from 2018.

Current detergent revenues and prospects for future revenues from the firm’s project pipeline would not be affected by the termination of the agreement, the board said.

“We greatly appreciate our working relationship with Nouryon and look forward to continuing to work with them in the personal care market,” said chief executive officer John 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.”

At 1032 GMT, shares in Itaconix were down 8.77% at 1.3p.