Arkema to cease coating resins production at UK site

МOSCOW (MRC) -- French company Arkema Coatings Resins have announced they're stopping production at part of their site in Stallingborough, said Grimsbytelegraph.

There are reports nearly 60 jobs could be under threat at a chemical plant in North East Lincolnshire. It's understood French company Arkema Coatings Resins have announced they're stopping production at part of their site in Stallingborough.

The company are expected to enter into talks with trade unions and employee representatives next week. Arkema have informed its staff that the final outcome will not be known until the end of the consultation period but support and guidance will be available throughout the process.

Arkema acquired the coatings element of the Laporte Road business as part of a ?495-million deal in July 2011, with a separate brand, CCP, created by Total to retain the composites element of Cray Valley, which operated across 20 global sites.

The products are used in paint, adhesives, inks and sealants, as well as for architectural, sanitary and marine applications.

Three years ago, when the deal was completed, investment totalling more than ?1-million and a 10 per cent increase in staff across the two separate entities was highlighted, however a large part of that investment was for the CCP aspect.

Arkema was actually created by a Total reorganisation back in 2004, it is now a separate entity, trading on the Paris Stock Exchange. At the time of the deal, Cray Valley had 20 different production sites worldwide, with 1,800 people employed and seven research and development centres.

As MRC wrote before, Arkema started its new 60,000 MTY emulsion polymers facility on its Changshu platform. This new plant, which represented a USD30 million investment, is located in Arkema’s Changshu manufacturing complex, the company’s largest manufacturing complex worldwide.

Arkema is a global industrial and speciality chemical company made up of three business segments; Vinyl Products, Industrial Chemicals and Performance Products. It is present in over 40 countries with 14,000 employees.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Styrolution, the global leader in the styrenics industry, has inaugurated a new line for the high performance styrenic specialty product Absolan at its Katol site located in Gujarat, India, reported the company on its site.

The new 40,000 mt line intends to meet the growing demand for Absolan across key growth industries in India, such as household, electronics, automotive. Absolan customers will benefit from improved local service and greater security of supply.

The new Absolan line augments Styrolution's current 60,000 mt production capacity in India bringing the total annual production capacity to 100,000 mt.

The move to increase domestic supply of styrenic specialties in India aligns with Styrolution's Triple Shift growth strategy, which puts a greater focus on higher growth industries, styrenic specialties and ABS Standard, and emerging markets.

Roberto Gualdoni, CEO, Styrolution: "India is one of the key strategic markets in Asia where Styrolution plans to accelerate growth and expand its footprint. This new line enhances Styrolution's capability to offer customers the high-performance styrenic specialities with the product and service quality they have come to expect. Ultimately, the expanded capacity paves the way for further growth together with our customers in India."

As MRC informed previously, in line with this strategey the company announced its two initiatives in October 2013: a planned joint venture with Braskem to produce ABS standard and ABS specialties in South America, and new AMSAN specialty production at Styrolution's plant in Altamira, Mexico.

Absolan is the brand name for Styrolution's styrene acrylonitrile copolymer (SAN) in India, commonly used in applications, such as household appliances, stationery, cosmetic packaging and general injection moulding. It is also used in acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) compounding for applications across various industries, such as automotive, household, electronics, construction and healthcare.

The Styrolution Group GmbH is a global provider of styrenics , headquartered in Frankfurt am Main. The company is a joint venture between BASF (50%) and INEOS (50%), were merged into the main styrene operations of the two partners. Its main focus is on the production of monomer, polystyrene, styrenic specialties, and ABS. The company offers styrene plastics for a variety of everyday products from different industries, such as automotive, electronics, construction, household, leisure, packaging, medicine and health.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Veka Recycling, an industry leader in recycling post-industrial and post-consumer window frame material, will be promoting UK-based supply of its high-quality 100% recycled PVC-U pellet and micronised PVC-U (pulver), derived from end-of-life PVC-U windows, at the first Plastics Recycling Expo in Telford in June, reported Industry Today.

Material is processed to a high standard of purity at the company's Kent site, so it can be used to manufacture new windows, as well as a wide range of other long-life PVC-U goods, such as building, roofline and cabling/ducting products.

The average PVC-U window has a lifespan of around 35 years and can be recycled up to ten times, effectively giving the material a 350-year lifespan. This makes PVC-U one of the most sustainable products currently available in the building and home improvement market.

As MRC wrote before, in December 2013, Veka Recycling announced the investment of almost EUR1.2 million (USD1.6 million) in its south-east England facility to produce high-quality recyclate suitable for PVC extruded products. A new compounding line will enable the company to supply European markets with PVC pellets derived from post-industrial or post-consumer window frame material. According to the firm, this is in addition to the existing supply of both pellet and micronised PVC from its German and French factories.

Established in the UK since 2007 and with an annual recycling capacity of 20 000-plus tonnes, the Kent-based company is part of the Veka Recycling Group, which has processing facilities in three European countries and has more than two decades' recycling experience in producing pelletised material that can be used in new extrusion products, including windows.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- LyondellBasell has announced that its Supervisory Board has authorized the company's Management Board to declare an interim dividend of USD0.70 per share, representing an increase of 17% to the company's first quarter 2014 interim dividend, as per the company's press release.

The interim dividend was paid May 12, 2014 to shareholders of record April 28, 2014, with an ex-dividend date of April 24, 2014.

The company also announced that at its annual general meeting on April 16, 2014, shareholders approved a proposal to authorize the company to repurchase up to an additional 10% of the company's outstanding shares over the next 18 months. The repurchases will be executed from time to time through open market or privately negotiated transactions.

"The company has already repurchased approximately 46 million shares to date and expects to have repurchased the entire 10% of the original authority given by shareholders in 2013 by the end of May 2014. This new share repurchase program and the increase in the regular interim dividend is reflective of our outlook, capital growth program, strong free cash flow profile and our commitment to returning cash directly to our shareholders via share repurchases and dividends," said Chief Executive Officer Jim Gallogly.

This share repurchase program does not obligate LyondellBasell to acquire any particular amount of shares. LyondellBasell had approximately 530 million shares outstanding as of April 15, 2014.

As MRC informed previously, in early May 2014, LyondellBasell received a key permit required in the company's multi-plant ethylene expansion program which, when fully operational, is expected to increase annual ethylene capacity by an estimated USD3.12 billion, for a total estimated capacity of USD19.9 billion in North America.

LyondellBasell Industries NV is a manufacturing company. The Company produces chemicals, fuels, and polymers used for packaging, clean fuels, durable textiles, medical applications, construction materials, and automotive parts. LyondellBasell Industries operates globally and is headquartered in the Netherlands. LyondellBasell is also a leading licensor of polypropylene and polyethylene technologies. The more than 250 polyolefin process licenses granted by LyondellBasell are twice that of any other polyolefin technology licensor.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- AkzoNobel's new EUR80 million Imperatriz "chemical island" in Brazil is now operational and has started supplying the Suzano Maranhao Pulp Mill in northern Brazil, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Operated by the company's pulp and performance chemicals business, the Imperatriz facility represents AkzoNobel's second major investment in the Brazilian pulp industry in the last two years.

It will supply, store and handle all chemicals for the 1.5 million tpy Suzano mill under an agreement which runs for the next 15 years.

"AkzoNobel is proud to be involved in this prestigious project, we strive to provide innovative and sustainable solutions that meet our customers' operational needs," said Werner Fuhrmann, the AkzoNobel executive committee member responsible for specialty chemicals.

"This investment strengthens our leading position in bleaching chemicals," added Niek Stapel, managing director for AkzoNobel's pulp and performance chemicals business. "Being our fourth chemical island in this region, it emphasizes our long-term commitment to this increasingly important market."

AkzoNobel has a well-established pulp and paper chemicals operation in Brazil, where the company already operates the chemical island concept at three pulp mills, served by the Eunapolis, Jupia and Tres Lagoas sites respectively.
The company also operates production units in Jacarei, Jundiai, and Rio de Janeiro.

As MRC wrote before, AkzoNobel N.V.has inaugurated its new, highly efficient chlorine membrane electrolysis plant in the Rhein-Main area of Germany. Capacity has been increased by 50% whilst at the same time reducing the plant's overall ecological footprint by some 20%

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.
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