Melitek breaks ground for new plant

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Melitek, the Danish medical compound specialist, has announced an expansion of its plant including a new production line, according to GV.

The company broke ground on the plant in Nr. Alslev in September 2013 and expects to be in full operation by September 2014 with an additional nominal production capacity of up to 8,000 tons. The new production facility will provide Melitek with about 1,200 square meters of additional space including a new production line.

The Danish company said that it has experienced a steady growth in demand for its Meliflex compounds customised for pharmaceutical packaging and medical devices.

"We have chosen to make a significant investment for the future of our company in order to service coming needs of our customers and to allow for growth into emerging markets", comments Kim Laursen, Managing Director. He continues, "We are privileged to supply leading healthcare companies and their key converters, hence our investment will guarantee higher flexibility and supply security for our customers which both are eminent for medical companies".

As MRC reported earlier, the value of the global medical polymer market is set to rise by more than half in the next five years, boosted by an ageing population and developing markets. The market is estimated to grow from USUSD2.3 bln to over USUSD3.5 bln, a rise of more than 52%, between now and 2018.

Melitek is a private owned Danish company specialised in medical compounds based on 30 years of experience servicing the healthcare market. Under the brand name Meliflex the company offers a broad range of materials (PE, PP, TPE, TPO and COC based compounds) that are produced according to GMP and ISO with an extensive medical service package. The compounds are PVC-free and do not contain any phthalate plasticizers.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- AkzoNobel announced plans to optimize the manufacturing footprint of its Coil Coatings sites in Europe and Russia by concentrating production at three strategic sites, said AkzoNobel.

The company intends to improve operational performance by focusing all European manufacturing for the Coil Coatings business on plants in Malmo (Sweden), Lipetsk (Russia) and Hilden (Germany). As a result of these plans, production at sites in Gamleby (Sweden) and Nurnberg (Germany) would end by June 2015.

"By focusing production on strategic sites that are close to our customers and manufacture products for more than one business, we will create a more efficient footprint and establish a more sustainable platform for future growth," said Conrad Keijzer, AkzoNobel’s Executive Committee member responsible for Performance Coatings.

The transfer is scheduled to start in early 2014. Current manufacturing at Gamleby will move to Malmo and Lipetsk, while production at Nurnberg will switch to Hilden. Around 280 employees will be affected, with the company planning to transfer and hire additional people in Hilden, Malmo and Lipetsk. A centralized European development centre will also be set up in Malmo.

"Operational excellence is a key priority and moving production to three strategic sites is a logical step which will ensure that we are better positioned to deliver leading performance and accelerate profitable growth," added AB Ghosh, Managing Director of AkzoNobel Industrial Coatings. "These improvements in our supply chain will also enable us to respond even faster to our customers."

AkzoNobel is a global leader in coil coating, which is a continuous and highly automated process for coating metal before fabrication. The products are mainly used for building components and infrastructure, as well as for consumer goods such as kitchen appliances.

Employees have been informed about the company’s plans and discussions with the relevant works councils are already underway.

As MRC wrote before, Akzo Nobel strengthened its footprint in India with the commissioning of a new plant in Gwalior to make decorative paints. The greenfield facility, Akzo’s sixth plant in India, has been built at an investment of Rs 140 crore. It has an annual capacity of 55 million litres.

Akzo Nobel N.V., trading as AkzoNobel, is a Dutch multinational, active in the fields of decorative paints, performance coatings and specialty chemicals. Headquartered in Amsterdam, the company has activities in more than 80 countries, and employs approximately 55,000 people.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Gulf’s petrochemicals output reached USD97.3 bln in 2012, a USD3.2 bln increase on the previous year, reported Plastemart with reference to the latest industry report by the Gulf Petrochemicals & Chemicals Association (GPCA), the region’s longest standing trade association.

GCC petrochemicals output has increased by 19% over the last five years. This is the highest growth posted by any petrochemicals producing region in the world.

Last year, the Gulf’s petrochemicals industry earned USUSD52.7 bln in export revenues.

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) was formed in 1981 to create economic, scientific and business cooperation among its oil-exporting members. These Middle East countries share the common faith of Islam, an Arabian culture, and an economic interest separate from OPEC. On a per capita basis, they are among the richest countries in the world. The Gulf Cooperatoin Council headquarters is in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, its largest member with a capacity of 86.4 million tons. The Kingdom contributes more than half of the GCC’s total petrochemical production. Together, they supply one third of US oil and own up to USD225 billion of US debt. These countries are seeking to diversify their rapidly growing economies away from oil.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- US supermajor ExxonMobil has agreed to pay USD8.05 million for clean-up related to decades of contamination at a site in northern New York, said Upstreamonline.

ExxonMobil owned and operated a major oil-storage facility in the town of Ogdensburg on a peninsula called Lighthouse Point for nearly a century. The site on the St Lawrence and Oswegatchie rivers received petroleum deliveries by barge from the late 1800s until 1984, according to state officials.

In 2001, petroleum contamination was discovered at the site following an environmental assessment. A subsequent investigation found "widespread petroleum contamination" in and around the terminal and underground pipelines connecting to the Oswegatchie River, New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman said in a statement.

The state used monies from its oil spill fund to clean-up the site between 2006 and 2007. ExxonMobil will reimburse the state for the clean-up costs under the terms of the agreement, Schneiderman said.

"It’s only right that corporations who jeopardise the sanctity of New York’s natural resources should have to pay for the damage they caused," Schneiderman said.

The settlement was reached in state Supreme Court on 14 November.

ExxonMobil said it was "pleased to have reached a settlement with the state of New York".

As MRC reported earlier, last year, Exxon Mobil announced plans to increase its petrochemical manufacturing output through the expansion of its Baton Rouge and Port Allen plants in Louisiana. A company official said that the expansion project will begin by the end of this year and is expected to be completed by 2014. The USD215 mln expansion project will take the company's capital expenditures in Louisiana to over USD1 billion in three years.

ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned company in the energy industry and produces about 3 percent of the world's oil and about 2% of the world's energy.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Production of general purpose polystyrene (GPPS) and high impact polystyrene (HIPS) in Russia increased by 20% to 253,400 tonnes in the first ten months of the year, according to MRC ScanPlast.

Russian PS production over the reported period increased on the back of the rise in the output of the largest producers in the market - Nizhnekamsneftekhim.
Because of the expansion of its capacities Nizhnekamskneftekhim produced about 200,000 tonnes of GPPS and HIPS in the first ten months of the year, up by 25% year on year. The share of Nizhnekamskneftekhim's production was 79% of the total PS production in Russia.

PS production at Gazprom neftekhim Salavat and PGProf was also stable, with production grown by 7% and 3% respectively.

Russia's PS production in the first ten months of the year reached the maximum in the history of the production of polystyrene in Russia. MRC analysts expect total PS production in 2013 will be 300,000 tonnes. Production of GPPS and HIPS was 258,000 tonnes in 2012.
MRC