A major Japanese chemical company and a Canadian producer of asbestos-free products are teaming up to provide an innovative solution to a growing Japanese asbestos problem. Tokyo's Kusumoto Chemicals Ltd. has signed a contract with Hedman Resources Limited that will make Kusumoto the sole Japanese distributor for Hedman's Superfil line of asbestos-free mineral industrial fillers.
Superfil is produced in various applications by Hedman at its Matheson, Ont. facility using the ore taken from the only known North American source of asbestos-free lizardite. Hedman began developing asbestos-free products from its ore body 18 months ago in response to the reduced use of asbestos in many industrialized countries. Superfil is industrial mineral filler with properties that make it an attractively priced alternative to asbestos and other less-durable fillers.
Under the terms of the agreement, signed June 27, Kusumoto will purchase a minimum of 2,000 tonnes of Superfil, worth $1 million each, year for use in plastics, cement and brake linings. The agreement gives Kusumoto, a long-established wholesaler of chemicals and industrial additives and fillers, the sole right to sell Superfil in the Japanese market.
Hedman recently signed a Superfil distribution agreement with CGC Inc. to sell and distribute Superfil in the Canadian market and negotiations with a major U.S. distributor are in the advanced stages, says Taillefer.
