Mitsubishi Chemical acquires a PVC facility

(noodles) -- Mitsubishi Chemical Performance Polymers (MCPP) intends to purchase a polyvinyl chloride compound plant in Bellevue, Ohio (USA) from A. Schulman, in a move to expand its presence in North America's polyvinyl chloride (PVC) compound market.

MCPP plans to purchase the Bellevue plant in order to enhance competitiveness in the PVC compound field and meet increasing demand in the North American market. MCPP plans to capitalize on this strategic acquisition by entering into a variety of markets beyond automotive components, as well as by expanding its existing business in thermoplastic elastomers for automotive injection and extrusion applications.

Mitsubishi Chemical Performance Polymers is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation. It manufactures thermoplastic elastomers. Its products are used in various applications, such as automotive components, industrial, food contact, electric/home electric, PVC compounds, rigid PVC Compounds, halogen-free flame retardant polyolefin compounds, communication, miscellaneous daily goods, industrial goods, medical equipment, food wrapping, and modifier applications.
MRC

(Converting Quarterly) -- Pregis Corp, a leading supplier of protective packaging solutions based in Illinois, the USA, has acquired Inter-Pac, based in Tupelo, MS, for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition will make Pregis the largest producer of polyethylene sheet foam in the United States.

Pregis will continue to operate Inter-Pac’s 180,000-sq-ft Tupelo manufacturing facility.

This transaction will benefit Pregis' customers across all segments and channels, including such markets as furniture, housewares, electronics, automotive, industrial and recreational products. The company is going to bring a much wider product portfolio to Inter-Pac’s existing customers, according to company sources.

As one of the first manufacturers of packaging raw material in the United States, Inter-Pac has been leading the plastic and foam industry for more than 50 years. The company produces polyethylene foam, also known as PE, a strong resilient closed cell foam; inter-foam; I-Plank, a thicker polyethylene product that can be processed into any shape, density or thickness; extruded profiles.
MRC

(Chemmonitor) -- A considerable rise in the global polymers production is expected in the future. The hike will mainly concern the polypropylene (PP) sector.

The increasing purchasing interest coming from Asia Pacific users led to startups of new PP projects aimed at the boost of the current output.

However, the above mentioned region is at present the key consumer of the material. It is forecast to maintain this role in the future as its demand continues to enhance.
MRC

(basf) -- BASF will modernize and service its acetylene facility at the Ludwigshafen Verbund site. In the course of these efforts the company will also perform routine maintenance at its facility producing 1,4-butanediol (BDO), which is based on acetylene. BASF will make use of this period to upgrade its plant technology, thereby securing the long-term supply of raw materials to meet the growing demand for BDO and its derivatives. In 2012 alone, the company is investing more than 20 million euros for this purpose.

The activities will start at the end of August and are expected to last six weeks. BASF plans to bring both facilities back on stream in mid-October. The company will make sure that customers at the Ludwigshafen site and elsewhere will receive supplies as usual by building up stocks and by arranging product shipments from other BASF sites.

The acetylene plant is one of the key production facilities at the Ludwigshafen site. Acetylene is a starting material for BDO, an intermediate that serves as a precursor for many other intermediates, including tetrahydrofuran (THF), Polytetrahydrofuran, N-vinylpyrrolidone (NVP) and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP). Acetylene derivatives are used, for example, to produce plastics, highly elastic textile fibers, solvents, and electronic chemicals.

MRC

(plasticker) -- Styron Europe GmbH and its affiliate companies in Europe announced price increases for all CALIBRE polycarbonate and EMERGE polycarbonate compound & blends products. Effective September 1, or as existing contract terms allow, the price for these products will rise by 250 Euro per metric ton.

"Our margins have continued to erode and it has reached a point where operating under these conditions has become unsustainable,"said Nicolas Joly, Product Market Manager, Europe & MEAI.

"We have worked with our customers to avoid increasing prices for as long as we can, but unfortunately we can no longer put off the inevitable, which is to raise prices."

Styron is one of the leading global suppliers of polystyrene, and the only global supplier that combines polystyrene, ABS/SAN, polycarbonate resins, compounds and blends, and EPS.
MRC