Petro Rabigh ships first petrochemical cargo export from King Abdullah Port

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Rabigh Refining and Petrochemical Company (Petro Rabigh) has exported its first shipment of petrochemical products from King Abdullah Port, located in King Abdullah Economic City in Rabigh, reported Plastemart.

The shipment represents the first export operation of the port, as per Saudi Gazette. The cargo, which consists of 54 containers of polymer material, was shipped on board a carrier heading to Singapore.

President and Chief Executive Officer of Petro Rabigh Engineer Abdullah bin Saleh Al-Suwailem said: "The importance of this shipment lies in the fact that it is the first shipment exported by Petro Rabigh through King Abdullah Port, and it represents support of the port and the commercial traffic in the area. It is also a significant step forward in the export operations of Petro Rabigh products due the proximity of the port to the headquarters of the company's operations, which contributes to the reduction of logistics costs for freight, accessing global markets faster, and relieving traffic and congestion at Jeddah Islamic Port."

As MRC informed previously, Petro Rabigh had signed an agreement with Tasnee and Saudi Advanced Industries (SAIC) for the supply of propylene oxide to the joint venture for the production of polyether polyol. The plant is located in Rabiga, in the west of Saudi Arabia on the Red Sea. The production launch was scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2013.

PetroRabigh, a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Japan's Sumitomo Chemical, has an annual output capacity of 18 million tonnes of refined products and 2.4 million tonnes of petrochemicals. Saudi Aramco and Japan's Sumitomo Chemical each hold a 37.5% stake in Petro Rabigh, with the remaining 25% owned by the public.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Hanwha Chemical, one of the largest business conglomerate in South Korea, is in plans to shut its oxo-alcohols plant for maintenance turnaround, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in South Korea informed that the plant is planned to be shut on February 18, 2014. It is likely to remain off-stream for around one month.

Located at Yeosu, South Korea, the plant has a 2-ethyl hexanol(2-EH) capacity of 100,000 mt/year and normal butyl alcohol (NBVA) capacity of 10,000 mt/year.

As MRC wrote previously, Sipchem Chemicals Company (SCC), an affiliate of Saudi's Sipchem, signed on July 22, 2013 an incorporation agreement with Hanwha Chemicals Corporation to form a new company, under name of "Saudi Specialty Products Company" for establishing conversion projects in Saudi Arabia. The Joint Venture between SCC and Hanwha comprised of two manufacturing facilities; the first one located at Hail will produce 4,000 MTPA of EVA films whereas the second one located at Riyadh will manufacture plastic moulds up to 1000 tons. It is noteworthy that Sipchem Chemicals Company owns 75% of new company capital while Korean Hanwha owns 25%.

Hanwha Group is one of the largest business conglomerate in South Korea. Founded in 1952 as Korea Explosives Inc., the group has grown into a large multi-profile business conglomerate, with diversified holdings stretching from explosives, their original business, to retail to financial services.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Argentina's stock regulator has rejected as inadequate an offer from Brazil's Braskem, Latin America's largest petrochemical company, to buy the roughly 30% of the shares of plastic maker Solvay Indupa that are publicly traded, as per Reuters.

Solvay Indupa is the Argentine-Brazilian unit of Belgium's Solvay, which owns 70.59% of the company. Solvay Indupa operates two industrial sites, one in Bahia Blanca, Argentina, and the other in Santo Andre, in Brazil's Sao Paulo state, that produce PVC plastic and caustic soda. The deal would represent Braskem's first move into production in Argentina.

In a contract signed last month, Braskem would buy the stake held by Solvay and buy the remainder of Solvay Indupa on the Buenos Aires stock exchange.

"The offer presented by Braskem of USD1.35 per share is in line neither with the book value of the company, which as of Sept. 30 was USD2.81, nor with average valuations during the fourth quarter of USD3.92," Argentina's CNV market regulator said in a statement.

The publicly traded shares of Solvay Indupa include a 16.7% stake held by Argentina's state pension fund, Anses.

As MRC informed previously, in February 2013, Solvay announced plans to divest its assets in the Argentine petrochemical producer Indupa, as part of a major restructuring and portfolio optimisation at Solvay. The company owns a 69.9% interest in Indupa, while the rest is traded on the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange.

Indupa, with a manufacturing capacity of more than 500,000 tpa of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), runs facilities at Santo Andre, Brazil, and Bahia Blanca, Argentina.

Solvay, with a market share 27%, is the second largest PVC manufacturer in Europe, after Kerling with 29% of the market.

Braskem is a Brazilian petrochemical company headquartered in Sao Paulo. The company is the largest petrochemical company in Latin America and one of the largest in the world. Braskem controls the three largest petrochemical complexes in Brazil, located in the cities of Camacari (Bahia), Maua (Sao Paulo) and Triunfo (Rio Grande do Sul). Besides these three petrochemical complexes, Braskem also controls a complex in Duque de Caxias (Rio de Janeiro).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A. Schulman, Inc. has purchased Prime Colorants Incorporated, a significant manufacturer of custom colors and additive concentrates in Franklin, Tennessee, for approximately USD15.1 million, reported the company on its site.

"This latest acquisition is part of our ongoing strategy to grow our custom color capabilities in the United States, as well as further transform our US operations from commodity products to a business focused on niche products and services. Color remains an area of opportunity for us in the United States, and the acquisition of Prime will enable us to serve customers better by offering color expertise in an area of the country where we were not previously located," said Joseph M. Gingo, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, A. Schulman.

Additionally, this added capacity will complement the company's recent acquisition of the Perrite Group which brought A. Schulman additional color capabilities in Malaysia, as well as its acquisition of Network Polymers which added to the company's niche business in the United States, he added.

As MRC informed earlier, in September, 2013, A. Schulman, Inc. purchased the Perrite Group, a thermoplastics manufacturing business with operations in Malaysia, the United Kingdom and France, for approximately USD52 million. The acquisition is expected to increase revenues in A. Schulman's Asia Pacific (APAC) segment by 35% and will double the size of the company's existing Engineered Plastics business in the region. It is expected to deliver approximately USD2 million to USD3 million in annual synergies, including initial savings in procurement followed by more significant savings in the area of operational efficiencies.

For 38 years, Prime has provided pelletized color concentrates and dry powder color expertise to customers in the automotive and building and construction markets. Prime also provides an entry point for A. Schulman in the liquid color market. The company expects revenues in calendar 2013 to be approximately USD12 million.

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. It reported net sales of USD2.2 billion for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2011.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Styron Europe GmbH and its affiliate companies in Europe announced today price increases for all polystyrene (PS) and copolymer grades, reported the company on its site.

Effective immediately, or as existing contract terms allow, the January contract and spot prices for the products listed below will increase as follows:

STYRON general purpose polystyrene grades (GPPS), STYRON and STYRON A-TECH high impact polystyrene grades (HIPS) by EUR50/tonne; MAGNUM ABS resins and TYRIL SAN resins by EUR50/tonne.

As MRC reported earlier, Styron Europe increased prices for all PS, copolymer and expandable polystyrene (EPS) grades in December by EUR20-30/tonne.

Styron is a leading global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex and rubber, dedicated to collaborating with customers to deliver innovative and sustainable solutions. Styron’s technology is used by customers in industries such as home appliances, automotive, building & construction, carpet, consumer electronics, consumer goods, electrical & lighting, medical, packaging, paper & paperboard, rubber goods and tires. Styron had approximately USD 5.5 billion in revenue in 2012, with 20 manufacturing sites around the world, and 2100 employees.

MRC