Nexeo Solutions acquires Archway Sales

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Chemicals distributor Nexeo Solutions has announced that it has successfully completed the acquisition of Archway Sales, Inc. and Jacaab, LLC (Archway), reported GV.

Financial details were not disclosed.

The combined capability of Nexeo Solutions and Archway creates a full line distributor in the coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers (CASE) industry.

"Archway's speciality portfolio closely aligns with our end market strategy," said Nexeo Solutions' President and CEO, David Bradley. "The similarity in our business models and our complementary product portfolios make this the natural next step on our path to market leadership."

"We see this acquisition as a union of strengths," said Bradley. "Archway has a very strong sales force and excellent brand equity in the marketplace, which will maximise our opportunities for growth."

"I believe we can bring our expertise and best practices to a common platform to make us stronger and more competitive," said Jack Baumstark Sr., Chairman and CEO for Archway. "We strive to be the preferred choice that comes to the minds of employees, customers, and suppliers in speciality chemical distribution."

As MRC informed earlier, last September, Evonik Corporation’s High Performance Polymers Business Line announced a distribution agreement with chemicals, plastics and composites distributor Nexeo Solutions for VESTAMID, VESTAMID Care, TROGAMID and TROGAMID Care product lines used in medical device applications.

Nexeo Solutions is the largest global chemical, plastics and composites distributor and environmental services with a centralized business model. As a private company employing more than 2300 employees with operations across North America, Europe and Asia, Nexeo Solutions is a leading distributor of chemicals, plastics, composites and environmental services.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Shell and state giant China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) have signed a long-term deal to collaborate on projects in the unconventional sphere, said Upstreamonline.

The Anglo-Dutch supermajor and its Chinese partner will also work together in the deep-water and liquefied natural gas spheres, as well as co-operate on other upstream and downstream projects, CNPC said on Wednesday.

Co-operation documents were signed by Shell chief executive Ben van Beurden and CNPC chairman Zhou Jiping in Beijing on Tuesday.

"The two companies will strengthen long-term worldwide co-operation in unconventional resources, deep water, LNG, and upstream and downstream businesses," CNPC said.

"Both agree to take soft power as an integral part in various fields of cooperation, and to promote the strategic partnership between the two sides to a higher level."

A Shell spokesperson confirmed the deal, saying: "In line with Shell’s strategic priorities in China, we have signed with CNPC a global alliance agreement that reconfirms both parties’ commitment to our existing strategic partnership in China and around the world.

"Under the agreement, the companies also commit to expanding bilateral project cooperation into softer areas of the business including HSE management, corporate social responsibility, human resources, corporate culture, technology innovation as well as international management."

As MRC wrote before, Shell and CNPC signed a 30-year deal to explore for natural gas in China, and gives Shell an additional foothold in the market to meet the fast-growing nation's substantial energy demand.

Royal Dutch Shell plc is an Anglo-Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the biggest company in the world in terms of revenue and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors". Shell is vertically integrated and is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation and trading.

China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) is the largest oil & gas company in China in terms of reserves and production. It is wholly owned by the government, and is the largest state-owned enterprise in terms of assets, and second-largest in terms of revenue. Its oil & gas reserves of 23 billion boe and production of 1.67 billion boe also position it among the top five integrated oil & gas companies in the world.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- State-owned Sinochem has got approval from the National Development and Reform Commission for preliminary work for a 1 mln tpa ethylene project in Quanzhou of the southeastern Fujian province, as per Plastemart.

Sinochem started test runs at its 240,000 bpd Quanzhou refinery in January.

Besides, here is the table, which lists ethylene plants under construction and planned:

- Sinopec/Exxon/Fujian - 200,000 tons;
- CNOOC Huizhou - 1,000,000 tons, start up in 2015/16;
- Sinopec/Kuwait Zhanjiang - 1,000,000 tons, start up in 2014;
- Sinopec Nanjing - 800,000 tons, start up in 2015;
- PetroChina Lanzhou - 1,000,000 tons;
- PetroChina/Shell Taizhou - 1,200,000 tons;
- Sinopec Hainan - 1,000,000 tons, start up in 2015/16;
- Sinopec Qingdao - 1,000,000 tons;
- Sinochem Quanzhou - 1,000,000 tons.

As MRC reported before, in August 2013, SINOPEC Wuhan Company’s ethylene project with a capacity of 800,000 tonnes per year produced first batch of qualified products, marking its successful commissioning and startup.

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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Prices for polypropylene (PP) in the Russian market have increased this week again. The situation was aggravated by the temporary restrictions of truck movement in many regions, according to ICIS-MRC Price Report.

Many Russian producers announced increase in contract PP prices for April delivery of Rb500-2,000/tonne in the last week of March. SIBUR (parent group of Tomskneftehim, Tobolsk-Polymer and Neftekhimiya (Kapotnja) has announced another increase in PP prices of Rb1,000/tonne this week. The situation is aggravated by the increase in the transportation fees in many regions of Russia.

Ufaorgsintez plans to announce PP contract prices for the second half of April on Friday. The producer suspended the sales of PP in the beginning of last week, because the number of orders exceeded its capacities.

The restrictions in the transportation, which is traditional for spring, complicated the situation. This restrictions have already come into action from the beginning of April in Siberia and Bashkortostan. As a consequence, transportation fees increased in the range of 25%-43%, beside there were difficulties in chartering trucks. Some market participants said they had to suspend their PP purchases because of the difficultiy in their delivery.

Buying activity in the spot market this week was poor. Price offers for raffia were heard in the range of Rb63,000-65,000/tonne FCA, including VAT. Price offers for injection moulding homopolymer PP were in the range of Rb66,000-67,500/tonne FCA, including VAT.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Designed specifically to help customers in the beverage industry reduce transportation losses, SABIC has broadened its stretch film portfolio to include one of the first commercially available materials in Europe to combine polypropylene (PP) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), according to the companie's press release.

The film’s high holding force (up to 12% compared to current solutions) for superior load stability is ideal for protecting heavy loads and is the result of SABIC’s constant focus on innovation and expertise in combination know-how. This film solution helps customers meet the demand for high-performance and optically-clear solutions, and can help them reduce costs.

"SABIC is proud of how we are helping our customers protect their goods during storage and transit with this unique blend of PP and LLDPE which offers a balance of increased strength and clarity and reduced thickness. Our customers’ distribution flows are highly dependent on an efficient supply chain relating to cargo securing and load protection. SABIC’s improved industrial stretch film for pallets ensure goods' stabilization and protects against the elements." said Lucio Baccaro, Technical Marketing Engineer LL-LDPE at SABIC.

By combining the properties of PP and LLDPE, SABIC’s new film solution competes on maximum yield efficiency with existing alternatives, with its improved mechanical properties offering opportunities for downgauging. Thus customers use less plastic to wrap their pallets, resulting in reduced use of material and lower overall plastic consumption.

The film’s improved transparency allows easy bar code reading and enables constant brand exposure. During transportation or on display on warehouse floors, the improved film provides a clear view of product names and brand logos, allowing customers to seize branding opportunities and a larger share of voice in the highly competitive marketplace.

"SABIC holds a leading position in the European film market in terms of market developments and portfolio", de Vries continued, "comprising PP, HDPE, LDPE and LLDPE resins for use in food and beverage, industrial, agricultural and healthcare applications. Our extensive in-house capability, via a ‘film development’ team of technical engineers, continues to provide innovative and sustainable solutions to our customers’ specific requirements, focusing on downgauging of film concepts and improved film functionality".

As MRC wrote before, SABIC developed a new grade of high density polyethylene (HDPE) - SABIC HDPE PCG4906 - for large containers used in healthcare applications in close cooperation with Mauser, a well-known supplier of blow moulded industrial packaging solutions.

SABIC is a diversified manufacturing company, active in chemicals and intermediates, industrial polymers, fertilizers and metals. It is the largest public company in Saudi Arabia. It is the largest company in the Middle East.
SABIC is currently the second largest global ethylene glycol producer and is expected to become number one after the introduction of these new projects. SABIC is the third largest polyethylene manufacturer, the fourth largest polyolefins manufacturer and the fourth largest polypropylene manufacturer. It is also the world's largest producer of mono-ethylene glycol, MTBE, granular urea, polyphenylene and polyether imide.
MRC