Styrolution and Braskem to explore ABS joint venture in Brazil

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Styrolution, the global leader in styrenics, and Braskem, the largest producer of thermoplastic resins in America and a global leader in biopolymers, has announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to investigate the formation of a joint venture in Brazil, reported Styrolution on its site.

The proposed 100,000 tonne plant would supply specialty styrenics, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and styrene acrylonitrile (SAN) copolymers, to customers in Brazil and throughout South America.

With a population of over 200 million and an estimated gross domestic product of over USD 2.3 trillion, the Brazilian market is robust. In recent years, Brazil has seen significant growth in the household appliance and automotive industries, both of which are key consumers of the specialty styrenics the joint venture would produce.

Traditionally, ABS and SAN have been imported into the region by styrenics providers like Styrolution. The new company would seek to capitalize on the favorable market dynamics to create a domestic and regional producer offering customers more localized service and greater security of supply.

The consummation of the joint venture is subject to regulatory and antitrust approvals.

It is planned that Styrolution would be the majority shareholder with 70% and Braskem holding 30%.

Subject to an agreement by both parties to proceed and provided relevant approvals are obtained, groundbreaking for the site could be expected as early as 2015 with production likely starting in 2017.

The proposed partnership would be an important step towards strengthening the petrochemical sector in Brazil.

As MRC informed previously, this August, Styrolution announced the start-up of its Luran S plant located in Ulsan, South Korea. Luran S belongs to Styrolution's specialties portfolio, which is well-known for its innovation, quality and customizability. It is the brand name for Styrolution's styrene acrylonitrile copolymers that have been impact-modified with acrylic ester rubber, acrylonitrile styrene acrylate (ASA). It is used in outdoor applications in various industries including automotive, electrical & electronics, building & construction, as well as sports & leisure. The new plant has a capacity of 43,000 mt per year, complementing current ASA capacity in Europe and North America.

The Styrolution Group GmbH is a global provider of styrenics , headquartered in Frankfurt am Main. The company is a joint venture between BASF (50%) and INEOS (50%), were merged into the main styrene operations of the two partners. Its main focus is on the production of monomer, polystyrene, styrenic specialties, and ABS. The company offers styrene plastics for a variety of everyday products from different industries , such as automotive, electronics, construction, household, leisure, packaging, medicine and health.

Braskem is Brazilian main producer of polyethylene and polypropylene. In addition with ongoing plants located in both petrochemical complexes, in April 2008 Braskem opened a 300,000 metric ton polypropylene plant in the city of Paulinia (Sao Paulo).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Clariant, a world leader in specialty chemicals, has signed an agreement to divest its Detergents & Intermediates business to International Chemical Investors Group (ICIG), for CHF 58 million, out of which 20 million will be in cash at closing, said Clariant in its press-release.

The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals. In 2012, the Detergents & Intermediates business generated around CHF 280 million in reported sales. The business employs around 660 employees in Europe, predominantly in Germany and France.

"Having successfully closed the sale of the first three businesses two weeks ago, the divestment of Detergents & Intermediates marks the next step in streamlining our portfolio. Once completed, the repositioning of the portfolio will allow the group to focus on exploiting its strong market positions and intensify growth by focusing on customers and innovation," said Hariolf Kottmann, CEO, Clariant.

Achim Riemann, Managing Director, ICIG, commented, "The Clariant Detergents & Intermediates business ideally complements our fine chemicals and custom manufacturing operations, providing also the basis for a new detergents platform together with our US hydrotropes & batch sulfonation business of Nease Corp. Together with the recently announced acquisition of Allessa we expect to realise signifcant synergies in the Rhein Main region, expecting to grow ICIG combined sales to more than Euro 1.2 billion."

Repositioning Clariant’s portfolio is an essential part of the company’s profitable growth strategy. To achieve the targets set for 2015, Clariant will focus on markets with future perspectives and strong growth rates and on businesses that have a competitive position, resulting in strong pricing power. In this context, the company has divested the Business Units Textile Chemicals, Paper Specialties and the Business Unit Emulsions on 30 September 2013 and signed an agreement for the Business Unit Detergents & Intermediates. With the planned divestment of the Business Unit Leather Services, the repositioning of Clariant’s portfolio will be completed in the coming quarters.

As MRC wrote before, Clariant announced the closing of the sale of its Textile Chemicals, Paper Specialties and Emulsions businesses to SK Capital. Starting 1 October 2013, the three former Clariant businesses are now operating under the name Archroma.

Clariant AG is a Swiss chemical company and a world leader in the production of specialty chemicals for the textile, printing, mining and metallurgical industries. It is engaged in processing crude oil products in pigments, plastics and paints.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - KAUSTIK (Volgograd), the third largest producer of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) in Russia, has resumed production after a scheduled maintenance works, according to MRC.

Yesterday, on 14 October, KAUSTIK (Volgograd) resumed PVC production after the scheduled turnaround, which began on 26 September and finished after three weeks.

The PVC production capacity at KAUSTIK is 90,000 tonnes/year.

The company produced about 70,000 tonnes of resin in the nine months of this year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- September imports of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) to the Russian market dropped by 22% from August to 13,100 tonnes, according MRC ScanPlast.

In preparation for the traditional end of the season of bottled PET chips consumption, Russian companies reduced purchases, which led to an overall decline in September imports. Market players expected reduced shipments in September, which reflected annual cycles. Korean producers accounted for the largest drop in supplies. Korean PET imports fell more than two-fold to about 3,000 tonnes. Chinese PET imports did not change from August and amounted to 8,500 tonnes.

The end of season and cold September were felt not only by foreign suppliers of chips, but also by local PET producers. Reduced domestic shipments in September (because of cuts in large converters' contract quantities) were caused by weak demand in the consumer market and low capacity utilisation.

However, there was a distinct trend towards imports substitution of Asian PET following increased output by Russian plants. The overall PET imports to Russia in January - September 2013 fell by 26% and totalled about 135,000 tonnes.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- DuPont has named William F. Feehery as president of its Industrial Biosciences business, effective November 1, as per the company's press release.

Feehery, 43, has served in a broad range of business and marketing leadership positions since joining DuPont in 2002. He is currently the global business director for DuPont’s market-facing Photovoltaic Solutions. Feehery also led DuPont’s Displays unit as part of the Electronics & Communications business.

DuPont Industrial Biosciences works with customers across a wide range of industries to improve products and make processes more sustainable. Through a unique combination of capabilities in agriculture, biotechnology, chemistry and material science, coupled with the power of 2,200 individuals worldwide, the organization focuses on providing biobased solutions to meet the needs of a growing population while protecting our environment.

As MRC wrote previously, in late 2012 DuPont reported of investments that the company were making in all its divisions kept on delivering results which were offset by the weakness in titanium dioxide (TiO2) markets. "Excluding the performance chemicals unit, which includes TiO2, the company expects earnings growth of at least high-teens in 2013 versus 2012. Performance chemicals margins are expected to fall six to seven percentage points in 2013," DuPont said.

DuPont is an American chemical company that was founded in July, 1802. The company manufactures a wide range of chemical products, leading extensive innovative research in this field. The company is the inventor of many unique plastics and other materials, including neoprene, nylon, Teflon, Kevlar, Mylar, Tyvek, etc. DuPont was the developer and main producer of Freon used in the production of refrigeration equipment.
MRC