Imports of titanium dioxide to Russia grew by half in March

MOSCOW (MRC) -- In March, imports of titanium dioxide (TiO2) to Russia increased by 53% year-on-year, according to MRC DataScope.

Last month, the total supply volumes of the imported material to Russia amounted to 8,760 tonnes.


All major suppliers of titanium dioxide to the country, such as Ukraine, the USA, China and Germany, accounted for the growth of import shipments.

According to customs statistics, in March 2013, imports of TiO2 for the production of paints and varnishes made 6,460 tonnes. About 1,700 tonnes of specialized grades of TiO2 for the production of rigid compounds were imported. About 600 tonnes of titanium oxide were imported for the production of paper, building materials, household chemicals and for other segments of pigment consumption.

According to market participants, one of the reasons for a rapid growth of imports is last year's low carry-over stocks of the material at Russian companies' warehouses. Meantime, at present traders do not see a surge of consumer activity in the domestic market.


In Q1 2013, imports of titanium dioxide to the Russian domestic market amounted to about 21,600 tonnes.

During the same period of last year Russian companies received by 28% less raw materials. Overall, over the said period of 2012, imports of titanium dioxide to Russia amounted to only 15,500 tonnes.

MRC

Mitsubishi Chemical purchased compound activities of Comtrex

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Mitsubishi Chemical (MCC), a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings (MCHC), has purchased all of the assets related to Comtrex's compounding business, said Chemicals-technology.

The acquisition of the Comtrex business is expected to help MCC speed up the expansion of its performance polymers business through its networks across the world.


Having been engaged in the PVC compounding business for more than 30 years, Comtrex started developing a line of vulcanized thermoplastic elastomers (TPV) in 2000 and selling the product in 2002.

MCC said its performance polymers business has been expanding the company's manufacturing and sales of TPV, cross-linked polymers, adhesive polymers and conductive polymers.

In 2005, MCC had established Mitsubishi Chemical Performance Polymers (MCPP), which has been expanding the compounding business with a focus on thermoplastic elastomers and adhesive resins for various applications and industries.

In December 2011, MCPP acquired all the shares of a previous joint venture for PVC compounds and in November 2012, the assets of the Bellevue, Ohio, plant.

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

Petkim and Socar plan to transform Aliaga into an industrial cluster

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Petkim together with its key owner, Socar plans to transform Aliaga into an industrial cluster. The transformation has several positive effects on Petkim, said Seenews.

Star refinery, Petlim and Petkojen projects are the key earnings drivers. Among these initiatives, the building of Star refinery by Socar-Turcas, the container port project Petlim and co-generation plant project Petkojen are the key additions. Star refinery allows Petkim to receive feedstock at lower cost and better quality. Petlim utilizes the port area belonging to the company more efficiently. Petkojen lowers the overall energy cost of the company by turning the boilers to dual mode.

As MRC wrote earlier, Petkim will start building a USD400 million port in November and complete it within two years, Yavuz said. Together with a USD5 billion refinery that the company is building, the port will help cut raw material costs by USD75 million a year.

Socar's Turkey unit will start imports of 1.2 billion cubic meters a year of natural gas from Azerbaijan in 2013, Yavuz said. The company will sell as much as 500 million cubic meters of that gas to Petkim, and the rest to other Turkish buyers.

Petkim is the leading petrochemical company of Turkey. Specializing in petrochemical manufacturing, the company produces ethylene, polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, polypropylene and other chemical building blocks for use in the manufacture of plastics, textiles, and other consumer and industrial products.


MRC

A. Schulman is open to revising initial bid for Ferro

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A. Schulman Inc. rejected Ferro Corp.'s claims that its proposed USD563 million cash-and-stock acquisition was a "low-ball" offer and said it is open to revising its initial bid, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Last month, the specialty-chemicals company made public its USD6.50-a-share offer for Ferro, after its smaller peer rejected the overtures. A group of Ferro shareholders seeking board representation have said Ferro's "abrupt" rejection of the buyout offer suggests the board may be seeking to entrench itself.

A. Schulman said Monday it continues to be disappointed by the Ferro board's refusal to talk.

"We reiterate our call for Ferro's board to enter into serious discussions with A. Schulman regarding our offer, and we are hopeful that the Ferro board will engage us following Ferro's annual meeting and election of directors on May 15, if not sooner," said Chairman and Chief Executive Joseph M. Gingo.

Ferro said its board carefully considered A. Schulman's proposal and unanimously determined it was inadequate and not in the best interests of shareholders. The company said it believes the continued execution of its strategy will deliver greater shareholder value.

Ferro shares slipped six cents to USD6.76 in regular session trading, while A. Schulman's shares fell 12 cents to USD25.49.

We remind that, as MRC wrote previously, in mid-2012 A. Schulman Inc. inked a definitive agreement to acquire ECM Plastics, a privately owned plastics compounder located in Worcester, Mass., for USD36.5 million. Besides, Jeddah-based National Petrochemical Industrial Company (Natpet), a subsidiary of Alujain Corporation, entered into a joint venture agreement with A. Schulman to produce polypropylene compounds.

A. Schulman is a global plastics supplier, headquartered in Akron, Ohio, and a leading international supplier of high-performance plastic compounds and resins, which are used as raw materials in a variety of markets. A. Schulman has 33 manufacturing facilities globally.
MRC

Lukoil to invest USD1 billion in Samara-Nafta in next 5 years

MOSCOW (MRC) -- OAO Lukoil Holdings, Russia's No. 2 oil producer, will invest USD1 billion in the oil firm Samara-Nafta to increase production, reported The Wall Street Journal with reference to Russian news agencies.

Lukoil acquired Samara-Nafta from Hess Corp. this month for USD2 billion as part of a strategy to stabilize and increase oil production. Lukoil has for years fought declining output at its main, Soviet-era fields in Western Siberia.

The investment in Samara-Nafta will increase production by between 5% and 7% over the next five years from 2.5 million tonnes a year, Prime news agency cited the company as saying.

As MRC informed previously, Lukoil's revenue for the full year 2012 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 in early March 2013, Lukoil started construction of combined cycle gas turbine unit (CCGT) at the regional industrial park, located in the immediate vicinity of Stavrolen, which had earlier resumed production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) after a short outage for maintenance.

OAO Lukoil Holdings is one of the leading vertically integrated oil companies in Russia. The main activities of the company include exploration and development of oil and gas, manufacturing and marketing of petroleum products.
MRC