Westlake Chemical starts new Geismar, Louisiana chlor-alkali plant

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Westlake Chemical Corporation announced that it has started-up its new chlor-alkali plant located at its vinyls manufacturing complex in Geismar, Louisiana, said Marketwatch.

This new chlor-alkali plant has the capacity to produce 350,000 electrochemical units (ECU's) annually and utilizes state of the art membrane technology. The plant is adjacent to the existing vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) facilities at the Geismar complex and has added approximately 70 full-time positions at the site. At its peak over 2000 constructions personnel were utilized in building the new plant.

When combined with the existing membrane chlor-alkali capacity at the Calvert City, Kentucky vinyls complex, the company will have the ability to produce up to 650,000 ECU's annually at these two sites to meet ongoing customer needs. The addition of this new plant is consistent with Westlake's vertical integration strategy for its vinyls business and will allow the company to continue to expand and optimize the vinyls chain, including the anticipated addition of 200mm pounds per year of PVC at the company's Calvert City PVC plant during the second quarter of 2014.
Westlake Chemical Corporation (WLK).

As MRC wrote before, Westlake Chemical has agreed to acquire the PVC pipe and fittings unit of Compagnie de Saint-Gobain SA's CertainTeed Corp. for USD175 million. CertainTeed's pipe and foundation group produces PVC pipe and fittings for municipalities, water wells, mining, agriculture and irrigation.

Westlake Chemical Corporation is a manufacturer and supplier of petrochemicals, polymers and building products with headquarters in Houston, Texas. The company's range of products includes: ethylene, polyethylene, styrene, propylene, caustic, VCM, PVC resin and PVC building products including pipe and specialty components, windows and fence.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Taiyo Petrochemical is in plans to shut its styrene monomer (SM) plant for maintenance next year, reported Apic-online.

The company has planned a maintenance turnaround at the plant in September 2014. The shutdown is expected to remain in force for around 30 days. The plant is currently operating at full production capacity levels.

Located at Ube in Japan, the SM plant has a production capacity of 370,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed before, another Japanese petrochemical producer - Taiyo Vinyl Corp., a subsidiary of Tosoh Group, is in plans to shut its polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plant located at Osaka in Japan for maintenance. The PVC plant has a production capacity of 170,000 mt/year and is likely to be shut for a maintenance turnaround in July 2014 for a period of about one month.

Taiyo Vinyl Corporation, a subsidiary of Tosoh Group, is one of Japan's largest manufacturers of polyvinyl chloride (PVC). The plant in Chiba is one of the company's key assests, which supplies 50% of its products to the domestic market. The company also produces PVC at the plants in Yokkaichi and Osaka with the annual capacity of 310,000 and 150,000 tonnes, respectively.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- OpenGate Capital, a global private buyout firm, has signed an exclusivity agreement with Belgian chemicals leader, Solvay S.A. to acquire Benvic, a leading PVC compounder with three manufacturing plants in Europe, according to the company's statement.

This project is subject to applicable information/consultation procedures with employee representatives and regulatory approvals. The sale is expected to be completed by the first half of 2014.

Under the Benvic brand name, the business develops, produces and markets high quality innovative PVC based thermoplastic solutions in the form of powders and compounds that are utilized across a wide range of end-applications including building and construction, automotive and aerospace, cabling, pharmaceutical, packaging and fluid transport.

Andrew Nikou, OpenGate Capital’s founder, Managing Partner and CEO stated, "Benvic would be a strategic complement to OpenGate Capital’s portfolio in Europe. The project would be in line with our strategy to develop our presence in the global PVC industry after having acquired Profialis from Tessenderlo Group in January of 2013, a leading European PVC profiles manufacturer. Profialis and Benvic would have a total annual production capacity of more than 200,000 tonnes and close to USD330 million in consolidated annual revenues. This is another testament to the merits of our firm’s investment strategy to build and operate businesses in diverse and global markets."

As MRC informed previously, Braskem, the largest polymer producer in the Americas and the world leader in biopolymers, has recently announced the execution of an agreement with Grupo Solvay for the acquisition of 70.59% of the total and voting capital of Solvay Indupa, which produces PVC and caustic soda and owns two integrated industrial facilities in Brazil and Argentina.

Benvic operates across Europe from its manufacturing facilities in France, Italy and Spain. The business employs over 200 people with annual revenues of USD220 million.

OpenGate Capital is a global private buyout firm specializing in the acquisition and operation of businesses seeking revitalization through growth and operational improvements. Established in 2005, OpenGate Capital is headquartered in Los Angeles, California and maintains offices in Paris, France and Sao Paulo, Brazil.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical has restarted its acrylonitrile (ACN) plant, said Apic-online.

A source in China informed that the plant resumed operations on December 25, 2013. It was shut on November 20, 2013 for maintenance turnaround.

Located in Shanghai, China , the plant has a production capacity of 130,000 mt/year.

As MRC wrote before, Top Asian refiner Sinopec Corp won initial approval last month from China's top economic planner for a plan to build a USD10-billion refinery and petrochemical complex in Shanghai.

Sinopec Corp. is one of the largest scale integrated energy and chemical companies with upstream, midstream and downstream operations. Its refining and ethylene capacity ranks No.2 and No.4 globally. The Company has 30,000 sales and distribution networks of oil products and chemical products, its service stations are now ranked third largest in the world.
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