Indorama establishes new subsidiaries

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Indorama Ventures has notified the Stock Exchange of Thailand of the establishment of four new wholly-owned subsidiaries, said Apic-online.

The new subsidiaries are Indorama Ventures USA Holdings LP, Indorama Ventures AlphaPet Holdings Inc., Indorama Ventures Europe BV and Indorama Ventures Packaging (Philippines) Corp.

Indorama noted that the three holding companies have been created as part of a restructuring.

As MRC wrote before, Indorama Ventures (IVL) completed the acquisition for the PET resin assets of PT. Polypet Karyapersada based in Cilegon, Indonesia, at a site with a capacity of 100,800 tonnes per annum.

Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited is a Thailand-based holding company. It invests in companies in domestic and international markets across four business areas: companies engaged in the manufacture and sale of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which is used for beverage containers and food packaging; companies engaged in the manufacture and sale of polyester fiber and yarn, which are used for textile and industrial applications; companies that produce and trade purified terephthalic acid (PTA), which is a white powder used in the production of polyester products, and companies that produce and trade wool. As of December 31, 2010, the Company had 23 factories worldwide, with a total production capacity of 1,648,000 tons of PET per year, as well as 280,800 tons of polyester fiber and yarn per year, 1,590,000 tons of PTA per year, and 5,900 tons of wool per year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LP has awarded McJunkin Red Man Corporation, a subsidiary of MRC Global, a framework agreement for the supply of pipes, valves and fittings (PVF) and valve automation for Chevron Phillips Chemical's US Gulf Coast Petrochemicals Project, according to Plastemart.

Chevron Phillips Chemical has announced that its US Gulf Coast Petrochemicals Project is expected to include a 1.5 million metric tons/year ethane cracker that will be built at the Chevron Phillips Chemical's Cedar Bayou facility in Baytown, Texas, and two new polyethylene facilities, each with an annual capacity of 500,000 metric tons (1.1 billion pounds), that will be built on a site near the Chevron Phillips Chemical Sweeny facility in Old Ocean, Texas.

"We are very pleased that Chevron Phillips Chemical has placed their confidence in MRC Global to supply their PVF and valve automation requirements for their US Gulf Coast Project," MRC Global's Chairman, President and CEO Andrew Lane said. "We look forward to servicing Chevron Phillips Chemical's needs for this very important project."

As MRC reported earlier, in August this year, Chevron Phillips received air permits from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) for its plan to build a new ethane cracker and polyethylene (PE) units in Texas. Additionally, the company said it received a greenhouse gas permit from Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the cracker earlier this year.

Chevron Phillips is a chemical producer jointly owned by Chevron Corporation and Phillips 66. The company was formed July 1, 2000 by merging the chemicals operations of both Chevron Corporation and Phillips Petroleum Company. A 50/50 venture, the company continues to be governed by a board of directors composed of two members from each of the parent companies. Chevron Phillips is headquartered at The Woodlands, Texas (a northern suburb of Houston), and is a major producer of ethylene, propylene, polyethylene, polypropylene, K-Resin(r) SBC, ryton polyphenylene sulfide (PPS), alpha-olefins, polyalphaolefins, aromatic compounds and a range of specialty chemicals.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Concern Stirol (Gorlivka) suspended its polystyrene (PS) production in late October, having stopped its capacities for a month long maintenance works, according to MRC analysts.

The plant was shut down because of the shortage of styrene monomer (SM), the main feedstock. Sources at the company said that the producer has not purchased SM yet. The sources also noted the company is not going to produce PS in November.

The outage of Stirol will enhance the ongoing shortage of expandable polystyrene (EPS) in the first half of November further.

Traders have already reported the deficit of EPS in Ukraine, which is complicated by the shipment disruptions of Russian and European EPS, which is more expensive.

Concern Stirol is the only Ukrainian producer of polystyrene. The company produces expandable polystyrene (EPS), general purpose polystyrene (GPPS) and high impact polystyrene (HIPS). Stirol's production capacities of HIPS and GPPS are 25,000 tonnes/year. EPS capacities of the plant are 50,000 tonnes/year.

MRC

MOSCCOW (MRC) -- Husky Injection Molding Systems Ltd. continues to build its mold-making stable, purchasing Schottli Group, a Swiss maker of molds for medical parts such as syringes, closures and food packaging, said Plasticsnews.

Both firms have worked together, said Husky President and CEO John Galt. Husky, which makes injection molding machines, robots and hot runners, is based in Bolton, Ontario. Schottli, based in Diessenhofen, Switzerland, has plants and service facilities at its headquarters and in San Dimas, Calif, and Suzhou, China.

As MRC wrote before, Husky Injection Molding Systems Ltd. announced plans to build a new facility in China. The area of land is located in the Suzhou New District and is a Greenfield site that has significant opportunity for further expansion beyond the existing land area. The site, to be built on 53,000 square meters of land, is expected to be fully operational in 2014.

Husky is buying the mold maker from Swiss industrial investor CGS Management, a private equity firm. Husky is owned by Berkshire Partners LLC and Omers Private Equity Inc.

Terms were not disclosed. The deal is expected to close in early December.

CGS bought a majority stake in Schottli AG in 2008 from owner Martin Schottli, and together they made add-on acquisitions in China and the U.S., growing the company into a global player in molds.

Schottli's medical molds turn out products like syringes, infusion/transfusion products, diagnostic systems and feminine-care items.

"We see Husky as the right organization to take Schottli forward," said Martin Schottli, a member of the board at the mold maker, in a prepared statement.

Husky officials say Schottli is a good fit with Husky's expertise in hot runners, controllers and injection molding presses.

"Through this acquisition, we will be able to work with the many skilled people at Schottli as one team to deliver more value to customers, particularly in the medical and closures markets," Galt said.

Husky made thin-wall molds for years, but exited in-house production in the mid-1990s to focus on its growing PET mold and hot-runner operations. In 2011, Husky bought Austrian closure-mold specialist KTW Group.
Now picking up Schottli brings a broader mold focus, but one that is still within Husky's sweet spot of thin-wall, fast-cycling parts.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Clariant, a world leader in specialty chemicals, has opened its new EUR100 million innovation center (CIC) in Frankfurt, Germany, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The center, which will be the company’s new global hub for research and development (R&D), is based at the "Industriepark Hochst." It will be the home of Clariant’s competence centers in chemical research and process technology as well as application laboratories for several business units and analytical labs.

The CIC will also house the departments for intellectual property management and new business development. As the corporation’s global hub, the CIC will ensure the coordination of Clariant’s world-wide R&D network, which includes centers across Europe, North America, Brazil, Japan, India and China.

Located at Clariant’s largest manufacturing site, the CIC will benefit from existing infrastructure as well as industrial and academic links offered by the Rhein-Main region.

"The CIC will open up a new dimension in the way Clariant connects its R&D departments internally as well as how Clariant engages external partners", said Martin Vollmer, chief technology officer.

"Within the CIC we have established an 'Open Lab' in order to work on innovation projects with customers and other development partners under one roof. This will enable us to translate market needs into innovative product solutions in a fast, flexible and efficient way."

As MRC reported previously, in October 2013, Clariant announced the grand opening of ColorWorks North America, the newest in a global network of co-creation centers built to bring color into the early stages of plastic product and packaging design.The opening culminates nearly three years of planning and renovation and represents a major investment by Clariant in support of customers in the USA and Canada.

Earlier this year, Clariant opened a new center of excellence lab for its Oil Services business in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, building on the company’s commitment to providing innovative technologies and products to customers globally.

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