Westlake Chemical to acquire CertainTeed PVC Pipe unit for USD175 million

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Westlake Chemical has agreed to acquire the PVC pipe and fittings unit of Compagnie de Saint-Gobain SA's CertainTeed Corp. for USD175 million, according to The Wall Street Journal.

CertainTeed's pipe and foundation group produces PVC pipe and fittings for municipalities, water wells, mining, agriculture and irrigation.

The transaction, which awaits regulatory approval, is expected to close in the second quarter of 2013.

The acquisition includes facilities in California and Kansas with production capacity of around 150 pounds a year, as well as technology and intellectual property for the production of various specialized products.

"When completed, it will enhance our North American pipe and building products portfolio by adding specialty product lines and supporting technology that we do not currently have," said Westlake Chief Executive Albert Chao, adding that he looked forward to the addition of the CertainTeed workforce.

We remind that, as MRC wrote previously, in October 2012 Westlake announced the expansion of its PVC plant in Calvert City, Kentucky, as well as its plans to increase the production of ethylene a this unit from 450 to 630 million pounds a year.

Westlake Chemical is a vertically integrated manufacturer and marketer of basic chemicals, vinyls (PVC), polymers (PE) and fabricated products.
mrcplast.com

MOSCOW (MRC) - In January 2013, calculated consumption of expandable polystyrene (EPS) in Russia amounted to 11,630 tonnes, according to MRC ScanPlast.

Compared to January 2012 consumption of EPS in January 2013 increased by 21%.

In addition, in January 2013 domestic supplies of Russian plants made 80% of total consumption.

Russia's production of EPS totaled 9,960 tonnes, up 14% from December 2012.

Imports decreased from 5,210 tonnes in December 2012 to 2,430 tonnes in January 2013. Compared to January 2012 imports fell by 43%.

Among Russian producers the main supplies to the domestic market was made by SIBUR-Khimprom - 8,000 tonnes of EPS. The output of EPS by Plastic (Uxlovaya) remained almost unchanged compared to December 2012 and made 930 tons. Angarskij plant of polymers produced only 230 tonnes of EPS in January 2013 against 1,71o tonnes in December 2012.


MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Technip, a world leader in project management, engineering and construction for the energy industry, has signed two agreements with State Corporation Russian Technologies (Rostec), reported the company on its site.

The agreements aim at manufacturing flexible pipes and umbilicals in Russia, for the Arctic region and the Black Sea oil fields, as well as at the construction and renovation of refining and petrochemical units in Russia.

Technip and RT-Chemcomposite Holding Company, a Rostec subsidiary, signed a memorandum of understanding to express their intention to form a joint-venture (JV) company for subsea activities in Russia. Under the terms of this memorandum, the joint venture is a cooperation in the production of equipment for the oil and gas industry and in particular flexible composite pipes based on Technip’s technology.

Moreover, another agreement was executed between Technip and Rustechexport, another company operating under the umbrella of Rostec, whereby the parties set forth the main terms and conditions for a jointly-owned company they intend to establish to provide engineering, design, and turnkey construction for oil refinery, petrochemical and gas chemical production projects in Russia, including the facilities required for offshore oil field operations.

Technip is a world leader in project management, engineering and construction for the energy industry. Present in 48 countries, Technip has state-of-the-art industrial assets on all continents and operates a fleet of specialized vessels for pipeline installation and subsea construction. As MRC informed earlier, last year Technip was awarded two contracts, worth a total value of about USD50 million, for the front-end engineering design (FEED) services of two refineries in Kazakhstan. Besides, ZapSibNeftekhim LLC, an affiliate of JSC Sibur Holding, awarded two FEED contracts to Technip for polyethylene plants located in Tobolsk, in the Tyumen region of Russia.

State Corporation Russian Technologies (Rostec) is a Russian corporation established in 2007 in order to facilitate the development, manufacturing and export of high-technology industrial products both for civilian and military applications. The company's net profit in 2011 totaled 45.6 bln rubles.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - In February, imports of polypropylene (PP) to Russia grew almost twofold, from January, despite the low seasonal demand, according to MRC DataScope.

In February, demand for polypropylene in the Russian market is traditionally low due to the seasonal factors. However, imports of polypropylene to Russia significantly increased compared with January on the back of voluminous purchases of polypropylene by Russian companies in Turkmenistan at the end of last year. But external supplies of PP in March is expected to decline seriously.

The total imports of polypropylene to Russia in February of this year amounted to 24,500 tonnes, while in January it did not exceed 13.700 tonnes. About 38% of total imports or 9,400 tonnes fell on polypropylene of raffia grade from Turkmenistan.

The second largest exporter of polypropylene in Russia is South Korea. South Korean polypropylene supplies in February was about 3,700 tonnes, with more than 2,500 tonnes fell on copolymers of propylene. In 2012, the total imports of polypropylene from South Korea exceeded 37,000 tonnes. The third largest importer of polypropylene in February is Germany with 2,500 tonnes.

The imports of polypropylene to Russia are expected to decline in March seriously on a break in the auction in Turkmenistan, and due to the launch of the new production in Omsk - Poliom (Titan Group).

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Lukoil Holdings, Russia's No. 2 crude oil producer, has reported its net profit for the final three months of 2012 nearly doubled year-on-year, when it was hit by a nearly USD1 billion write-off, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Lukoil said net profit for the period totaled USD2.69 billion, compared with USD1.35 billion in 2011. That was slightly below a forecast of USD2.72 billion from a Dow Jones Newswires survey of five analysts.

The company didn't provide a breakdown of fourth-quarter results, but said revenue for the full year increased 4.1% to USD139.2 billion from USD133.7 billion, on the back of higher oil prices. Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortization, or EBIDTA, rose 1.7% to USD18.9 billion from USD18.6 billion. Net profit for the year was up 6.2% on 2011 at USD11.0 billion.

We remind that, as MRC wrote previously, Lukoil started construction of combined cycle gas turbine unit (CCGT) at the regional industrial park, located in the immediate vicinity of Stavrolen, which has recently resumed production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) after a short outage for maintenance. On Tuesday, 5 March, the plant launched ethylene production and on 6 March - the productrion of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).
MRC