ASX Announcements - Mark and Jason bemoaned the ASX rules regarding notices (and Bob as well - re the bedding announcement), but I think we're all resigned to our fate there, and understand the restraints companies have upon them
Alexiflam - Bob agreed with the assertion that, in the long run, FR will form the greater part of Alexium's business, it's a far bigger market, with a lot more potential for the company then PCM. Competitors are many years away from doing what Alexiflam can, and the IP is very tight, so the competition is low.
Alexiflam FR - The huge advantage that FR has is that they are the only real player in the market to provide all that is needed for cotton/nylon treatment with required outcomes...
General Uniforms - from the military perspective, the spec required a certain weight, with FR ending at about 18% of the total mass. Competitors offering run between 30-40% weight increase because they need to use exotic fibres to give the results. The Pime Belt/Alexium combo also provides a price point almost 50% below the competition. Bob sees this as the most worthwhile part of the military to pusue, as we are a shoe-in.
The process of line integration and wear trials will take 3 to 4 months to complete, they are starting their production runs next week. The finalisation of the contract and orders from the military will probably not happen until early next year (given there are no sudden red herrings thrown up).
The uptake of uniforms by the USA will inevitably lead to similar uptake by their allies, such as Au, Can, GB etc
Fracu - a longer term goal, with more hurdles to jump. Not a massive volume compared to general uniforms.
Pine Belt - Bob was very impressed with their production, they know their market and they have innovative techniques to get things done. They have total confidence in the product and given their knowledge of the military market, it makes Bob confident that there will be no issues to come.
Alexiflam NF - this is a big market, closely narrowed to suit the product. There is no competition here, and the reason they signed to MOU with ICL. It is orientated towards Europe and the USA.
ICL - long term relationship, finally maturing. ICL and Alexium both benefit from it, and they will work together to further develop applications and solutions. Bob and Jason are happy with the talks so far, and pointed out that ICL has actually been sending clients our way when the Alexium product line suits better than theirs.
Workwear/ Hi-Vis - as noted above, hi vis products are untreatable because of the fact that the FR wrecks the dye. NF does not. This market will slowly develop as the availability of flame retardant products becomes more widespread, they use of polyester is currently the answer (a poor one). Fleece is another issue (to think in construction we currently issue hi-vis fleece pullovers to our workers). Better products would be welcome ….
Alexicool - ok, so it wasn't an "accidental discovery" by Bob (as portrayed by Nick), it was a deliberate attempt to solve a manufacturing problem across the industry. PCM is about 60% FR (did you know that? I didn't) because PCM is inherently flammable. The development of Alexicool came about because other PCM producers were using all sorts of FR with their product, and the results not good.
They attribute the recent uptick in orders to the change in the approach Alexium has to its customers, plus the development of the analytics, which has actually brought customers back. The foam additives have been the major development work recently, and has created a lot of market interest. They had a sample, and the effect is very obvious - the stuff works really well. A bed made with Alexicool will absorb all the heat a human body can emit for over 30 minutes and not increase in temperature.
More in a while - my beer's run out
