Recticel considers to close its converting unit in UK

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Recticel Limited (UK) announced its intention to streamline its Flexible Foams converting activities in the United Kingdom, resulting in the potential closure of its foam converting factory in Nelson (Lancashire) before the end of Q3/2013, said Recticel.

The activities of this site are under consideration for integration into the conversion capacities at the converting unit in Alfreton (Midlands).

All 95 employees at the site have been put under risk of redundancy. During the consultation period, which will start soon, the Group is committed to search together with employee representatives for the most appropriate social support measures, including mobility to other Recticel UK Flexible Foams’ plants. The Flexible Foams’ activity employs 485 people in the United Kingdom.

The costs will be charged to the first half year of 2013.

The company, which makes interiors for cars as well as bedding and mattresses, said it could move some of the workers to other factories in the country.

As MRC wrote earlier, Recticel (Brussels) in mid-2012 closed its comfort foam converting plant in Bladel, Netherlands.
At the end of 2011, the Belgian PU foam specialist had shut down its foam converting plant in North Shields/UK.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Petronas has awarded Air Products an LNG heat exchanger order for a major LNG project in Malaysia, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Air Products' SplitMR liquefaction process and technology was selected and will be supplied to the Petronas LNG Train 9 Project. This project will produce 3.6 million tpy of LNG and is an expansion of the existing Petronas LNG complex in Bintulu, Sarawak, Malaysia.

Overall, Air Products' LNG technology and equipment is currently employed in the facility's eight existing production trains designed to produce 25.7 million tpy of LNG. Production of LNG will increase to 29.3 million tpy via the additional ninth train with Air Products involvement at the Bintulu facility, targeted for startup by the end of 2015.

As MRC informed previously, in early 2013, Petronas and BASF scrapped a proposed joint venture to develop a specialty chemicals production facility in Malaysia. Earlier, in October, 2012, Petronas announced that it was planning to terminate its vinyl business to help optimise its portfolio. The company's vinyl business are formed by three plants located in the Kerteh integrated petrochemical complex, Malaysia, and a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plant in Vung Tau, Vietnam.

Petronas Chemicals Group Berhad (PCG) is the leading integrated chemicals producer in Malaysia and one of the largest in Southeast Asia. Company is involved primarily in manufacturing, marketing and selling a diversified range of chemical products, including olefins, polymers, fertilisers, methanol and other basic chemicals and derivative products.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Shell is considering the sale of its retail, aviation, and supply and distribution downstream businesses in Italy, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing with reference to the company's announcement.

Shell’s non-service station lubricants and marine businesses are not part of this announcement, the company added.

The announcement also has no impact on the upstream and gas and power businesses in Italy, as Shell said these businesses present strong growth opportunities.

The potential sale is consistent with Shell’s strategy to concentrate its global downstream businesses where it can be most competitive, according to company officials.

Recent examples include the sale of refineries in the UK and Germany and downstream businesses in Finland and Sweden, as well as the establishment of joint ventures in Brazil and across Africa.

Shell noted that Italy remains an important country for its business.

We remind that, as MRC wrote previously, in February Royal Dutch Shell took a final investment decision to increase production capacity at its Singapore petrochemical plant to meet demand for specialized materials used in the automotive and furniture industries. The upgrade will increase the plant's capacity to produce polyols -- industrial chemicals used to make high-quality foams -- by more than 100,000 tpy to 360,000 tpy. The project is expected to be completed in 2014.

Royal Dutch Shell plc is an Anglo-Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the biggest company in the world in terms of revenue and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors". Shell is vertically integrated and is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation and trading.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sika AG (SIK), the world’s largest maker of construction chemicals, said it’s betting on a rebound in revenue later this year after colder-than-average weather in March in Europe and North America held back building projects, said Businessweek.

First-quarter sales fell 1.1% to 1.04 billion Swiss francs (USD1.12 billion) from 1.06 billion francs a year earlier, the Baar, Switzerland-based company said in a statement. Currency movements reduced revenue by 0.9%.

"Sika assumes that the construction projects held up by the wintry weather will get back on track and be brought to completion," the company said.

March weather in the U.K. was the second coldest on record, according to the Met Office, and temperatures in France averaged 1.3 degrees Celsius colder than usual in March, according to that country’s Agriculture Ministry. Swiss companies are also grappling with the effects of a rising franc on exchange markets amid a recession in neighboring countries using the euro.

Sika’s figures "could drive consensus down by 1% for this year and beyond," Patrick Laager, an analyst at Credit Suisse AG in Zurich, said in a note to clients. "Adding external growth is part of Sika’s strategy. We hope that management may be more active on this front this year."

Chief Executive Officer Jan Jenisch dropped a mid-term annual sales-growth target of as much as 10% on Feb. 28, citing a "continuing uncertain situation" in Europe. The maker of Sikaflex sealant today reiterated a revenue-increase target of 4% to 6% for 2013.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Shell announced new investments at its Singapore site that will add to its portfolio of world-class manufacturing facilities and boost its chemicals footprint in Asia. The company has taken a final investment decision to build new petrochemicals production units on Jurong Island to supply customers in the region, said Shell.

The new investments include a high-purity ethylene oxide (HPEO) purification column with an initial capacity of 140,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) and two world-scale ethoxylation units with a combined capacity of 140,000 tpa. These will add to Shell’s existing capacities for HPEO (65,000 tpa) and alcohol ethoxylates (40,000 tpa) from the company’s 2010 acquisition of its partner’s shares in Ethylene Glycols (Singapore) Private Limited. The new investments also include associated facilities, such as product tanks and a HPEO pipeline grid. The pipelines will deliver HPEO to new and potential "over-the-fence" customers, some of whom have already signed up with Shell and are building facilities nearby.

Official groundbreaking took place today for these new plants, as well as for the upgrading of Shell’s polyols production facility, announced in February 2013.

Graham van’t Hoff said, "The demand for alcohol ethoxylates in Asia is expected to increase at approximately 6-7% annually over the next five years. The key driver for this is the move by consumers from laundry powder and soap bars to liquid detergent and liquid soaps, especially in major markets like China, India and South-east Asia. Shell is one of a few global suppliers of HPEO and alcohol ethoxylates - we are expanding to meet the growing needs of our existing and new customers."

HPEO, derived from ethylene oxide (EO), is used in a wide range of household and industrial applications. Its largest outlet is the ethoxylation industry, which processes HPEO and alcohol into alcohol ethoxylates. These are key ingredients for a variety of products, such as detergents and personal care items like shampoo and body wash. Feedstock for the new HPEO plant will come from Shell’s world-class ethylene oxide/mono-ethylene glycol plant on Shell Jurong Island, which is integrated with the company’s ethylene cracker through to its largest fully-owned refinery on Pulau Bukom.

Royal Dutch Shell plc is an Anglo-Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the biggest company in the world in terms of revenue and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors". Shell is vertically integrated and is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation and trading.
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