Chemigate is a leading Finnish company that produces modified starches for industrial applications and a range of cationic starch based polymers in liquid form. Chemigate’s main market is the Paper and Board Industry with a focus for modified starches on Finland and Scandanavia, and with liquid cationic starch polymers the entire European Paper and Board Industry.

The company was purchased from BASF and set up in 2010, following the BASF acquisition of Ciba which had acquired the Raisio Paper Chemicals business in 2004, where starch was a core business activity.

From 1. June 2011 Chemigate and ACAT have agreed a joint cooperation in Europe, excluding Finland for the distribution of the Raifix and Raisabond range of liquid starch polymers.

In 2010 ACAT launched a major international expansion of its Paper Technology Department, and recruited personnel to set up new operations in Germany, France and the UK, with distributors in Sweden , South Africa and in Asia. Many of these people from Ciba and Allied Colloids have a shared background with Chemigate personnel, so the product portfolio of Raifix and Raisabond products is very well known as well as having good personal relationships.

The target for ACAT is to present technically advanced and innovative products, which in combination with well-engineered and practical application provides its customers and partners with solutions that optimize their processes.

The Raifix and Raisabond starch based polymers enable the development of the business for more environmentally sensitive products and applications, and offer alternatives to oil based products. ACAT’s philosophy is always to supply products which require a high level of technical competence and customer intimacy. ACAT employs people with long term experience and knowledge of the Paper Industry and adds value through the ability to apply and fully optimize the chemistry on the paper machine.

Raifix technology is a unique family of biodegradable cationic solution polymers produced from the patented reaction of modified starch with a cationising reageant. Being starch based, Raifix has a high molecular weight with a highly branched structure and a high degree of hydrophilicity giving strong hydrogen bonding ability, so does not rely on charge alone. The products are insensitive to pH change and maintain efficiency in closed systems.

Raisabond products are multifunctional starch polymers for strength, improving retention and drainage programs, fixation and can be used to boost the performance of wet end cationic starches. Another important market is for the emulsification and stabilisation of ASA sizing, where it is widely used. Raisabond is also used for strength in the Tissue Industry where it will dry to produce a soft flexible film compared to wet end starch, without negative effects on softness.

Raifix and Raisabond products are often used in clean systems operating close to isoelectric zero, where fixation is required without impacting the charge in the system.

Within our customers enterprises we invest the most important capital: innovation, experience, enthusiasm and the eagerness with which our employees work. We could not be such a good partner for our customers and suppliers in the course of challenging projects without them. And without continuity in the field of servicing of ongoing projects security of added value of the applications could hardly be warranted.

We want to continue to bring more and more new technologies and innovations to the markets to optimize the processes in many respects and with Chemigate we will have a partner of similar nature and philosophies and with wide research and development skills to gain a new generation of wet end chemistry, based on customers’ demands.