GTranslate
FROM DREAM TO REALITY
The story of COIM ITALIA was born from the meeting between Mario Buzzella e Cesare Zocchi, a technician and his client, who decide, united by their passion for chemistry, to build something new together.
The two founders' first great intuition was to explore an untapped field in the Italian chemical industry, and so, thanks to Buzzella's technical expertise and Zocchi's business expertise, they received their first order for methyl ethyl ketone peroxide (KETANOX), a product that was very difficult to source in Italy. This order allowed them to found COIM and, in a few months, in October 1962, to create the production site in Offanengo, in the province of Cremona.
After this meteoric start, growth continued, thanks also to the two entrepreneurs' strategy of entering unexplored spaces in the market. 1964 The production of monomeric plasticizers (PLAXTER), used in the cellulose sector, begins. The company has a turnover of 240 million lire and there are 17 employees.
In just a few years, COIM conquers the 50% of the Italian market of Peroxides. In the 1966 Nouri & Van der Lande (now Akzo) purchases 50% of COIM: the proceeds from the sale are used to invest in Offanengo in the unsaturated polyester (EXTER S) and alkyd resin (GLICEXTER) sector used in the paint industry.
A moment of strong growth in those years was linked to the production of saturated polyesters dedicated to the soles of sports footwear.
COIM begins producing saturated polyesters (DIEXTER) and polyurethanes for footwear (UREXTER) and, through these new products, triples and then quadruples its turnover in just a few years.
In the mid-1970s, COIM was growing and always looking for new products to conquer further market sectors.
In 1979, the company entered into a partnership with Novotex, a company owned by the Magni family, which led to the production of polyurethanes for synthetic leather (LARITHANE). Meanwhile, the company expanded its production of polymer plasticizers and polyurethane granules for extrusion molding (LARIPUR), used for ski boots, cables, pipes, gaskets, synthetic leather, adhesives, etc.
Thanks to its strong growth, COIM repurchased the 50% stake it had sold to Akzo in recent years, returning it to the ownership of the Buzzella and Zocchi families.
The first half of the 1990s saw the launch of new production lines: binders and finishes for fiberglass (FILCO) in 1992; aromatic polyesters and polyurethanes for the construction of insulation panels (ISOEXTER) in 1994, used primarily in the construction industry. Production of water-based polyurethane dispersions (HYDROLAR) also began.
At the end of the 1990s, COIM's turnover was around 400 billion lire , with a single production site in Offanengo. The new challenge was to conquer new markets outside Europe.
In addition to investments outside Europe, market penetration continued with the acquisition of the German company Novacote, which produces laminating adhesives for the food and pharmaceutical packaging sectors (NOVACOTE). In 2007 , production of cast polyurethanes (IMUTHANE) began, with applications ranging from mining to printing rollers.
In 2017 , with the acquisition of a small Italian company, Coim decided to deepen its knowledge of liquid printing inks. Darwinks was born , a laboratory through which to refine the development of systems (adhesives, inks, heat-seal lacquers) for food packaging.