Polish packaging firm Opakomet is bought by MKG

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Polish plastics packaging producer Opakomet in Krakow is reported to have been acquired by the Warsaw-based company Miedzynarodowa Korporacja Gwarancyjna (MKG), said company in its press-release.

MKG bought a stake of 92.58% in the partially state owned packaging firm for a sum of EUR4.8m, according to an announcement by Poland’s finance ministry. This included a share of 42% held by the government for which MKG agreed to pay EUR2.2m.

Opakomet, which established its plastics moulding division in the 1990s, manufactures a range of containers and other packaging in polyethylene and polypropylene as well as producing moulded components for various sectors. The company runs a variety of injection and blow moulding machines from suppliers including Krauss Maffei, Arburg, Ferromatic, Bekum and Uniloy Comec.

The company, founded 80 years ago, produces packaging for the food, chemicals and automotive industries. Opakomet also operates a subsidiary business producing aluminium tubes with a plant at Lowicz in the Lodz region of Poland.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sinopec Engineering (Group) Co, an engineering unit of state-owned China Petrochemical Corp, has submitted a listing application to Hong Kong stock exchange for a USD1.5 billion initial public offering, people with direct knowledge of the matter told Dow Jones Newswires Tuesday as reported Plastemart.

As MRC informed earlier,Asia's largest refiner China Petroleum & Chemical (Sinopec) had established petrochemical company Sinopec Engineering in September last year, whose shares would begin to be traded on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2014. It should be noted that the company was formed through the consolidation of the assets of eight units of Sinopec with its registered capital of 3.1 billion yuan (USD488,31 million).

Beijing-based Sinopec Engineering, which builds petrochemical and refining plants, is aiming for an IPO in the second quarter as it fires up plans to secure more overseas engineering and construction projects. The plan comes as the window for fundraising has reopened, with Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index gaining 5% since December on the back of optimism over China's economic growth and abundant market liquidity.

Sinopec Group is one of the major petroleum companies in China, headquartered in Chaoyang District, Beijing. Sinopec's business includes oil and gas exploration, refining, and marketing; production and sales of petrochemicals, chemical fibers, chemical fertilizers, and other chemical products.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The West Bengal government’s plan to sell its stake in the troubled Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd (HPL) received a severe hitch as ratings agency ICRA downgraded the company’s debt, following a delay in repayment of HPL’s debt obligations, wrote Plastemart.

The agency revised the long-term rating outstanding on Rs 2,421 crore term loans and Rs 600 crore fund-based facilities of HPL from 'B' to 'D'. The short-term rating of outstanding on the Rs 2,106 crore non-fund based facilities of HPL was cut from 'A4' to 'D'.

This may hinder the state government’s plan to offload its 39.9% stake in HPL amid increasing contingent and commitment liabilities. As MRC reported earlier, the West Bengal government is keen on completing transfer of its shares in Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd (HPL), which is facing funds crunch, before March 31 next year. The downgrading may also impact HPL’s search to raise an additional Rs 1,000 crore credit line for working capital. The state government has already appointed Deloitte India to execute the divestment plan and a valuation process is going on. As of March 2012, the firm’s accumulated loss was around Rs 1,800 crore.

Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd is a modern naphtha based petrochemical complex at Haldia, West Bengal, India. Haldia has played the role of a catalyst in emergence of more than 500 downstream processing industries in West Bengal with a capacity to process more than 3,50,000 TPA of polymers, among which are polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- On 9 January PetroLogistics LP, operator of the only dedicated U.S. propylene plant, announced the successful completion of all repairs to its propane dehydrogenation facility and that the facility had resumed propylene production, reported The Sacramento Bee.

As MRC reported earlier, in late December PetroLogistics announced an unexpected shutdown of production on Monday, 17 December, to fix a damaged compressor. Repairs were expected to take about 3 weeks and cost around USD2m.

We remind that still in September last year PetroLogistics LP was seeking permission to double the Houston factory's output as supplies fall and competitors including Dow Chemical Co. plan similar facilities. The company wanted to add six combustion units to the five currently producing propylene, an ingredient in plastics, nylon and detergents.

PetroLogistics LP is a major producer of propylene and is the only independent dedicated propylene producer in the United States. PetroLogistics LP owns and operates the world's largest propane dehydrogenation facility, based on production capacity, strategically located on the Houston Ship Channel with direct and indirect access to approximately 1/2 of U.S. propylene consumption.
MRC

MOSCOW (ICIS-MRC) -- Despite the reduction of the contract price of propylene, European makers increased January PP prices, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

The contract price of propylene in Europe for shipment in January was agreed by EUR13/tonne lower from December 2012. Despite this, European producers announced a necessity to raise export PP prices for the markets of CIS countries by EUR20-40/tonne from the previous month, citing low margins and limited export quotas.

In December, European producers managed to preserve PP prices at November level despite the reduction of the contract price of propylene and weak demand and due to decrease in capacity utilization. Deals for homopolymer polypropylene for CIS countries were concluded on average in the range of EUR1,200-1,260/tonne, FCA. At the same time some producers reported that they would have to increase PP prices in January amid high feedstock prices and low margins. They voiced a necessity of a price rise by EUR50-75/tonne.

The contract price of propylene in Europe for January shipments was agreed at EUR13/tonne lower from December. However, European makers, as it had been voiced before, raised PP prices. This week, deals for January shipments of homopolymer polypropylene to CIS countries were negotiated in the range of EUR1,220-1,300/tonne, FCA. Limited export quotas and high export PP prices in Asia and Middle East give confidence to European makers.
MRC