Arkema reached a 10-year agreement for propylene supply in the United States

MOSCOW (MRC) -- As part of its procurement policy for strategic raw materials, Arkema, a France-based chemical manufacturer, has reached an agreement for the supply of propylene with Enterprise Products Partners L.P., a leading United States midstream Energy Company, as per Arkema's press release.

Taking advantage of the development of shale gas in the United States, this contract secures a long-term supply (more than 10 years) of propylene produced by propane dehydrogenation (PDH) and will strengthen the competitiveness of the Coating Solutions segment.

This contract will account for a significant part of Arkema’s propylene feedstock in the United States.

Propylene is a key raw material for acrylics, a major sector for Arkema, and where the group is a key player in the United States and the world’s third largest player.

Enterprise Products received the necessary permits for this project in May, 2014 and construction of the plant has now started. The PDH plant is due to be completed in first half of 2016.

This agreement is fully consistent with Arkema’s growth strategy to continue its expansion in the United States.

As MRC informed previously, in early July, French specialty chemicals firm Arkema and Omya, a Switzerland-based global provider and distributor of specialty chemicals, entered into an exclusive pan-European distribution agreement, under which Omya will market Arkema's plastic additives range for various polymer markets (impact modifier and processing aid solutions): Plastistrength, Durastrength, Clearstrength and Biostrength across Europe, except Spain and Portugal.

Arkema with annual revenue of EUR6.4 billion is a leading European supplier of chlorochemicals and PVC. Kynar and Kynar Flex are registered trademarks of Arkema Inc. Arkema operates 11 organic peroxide plants on the three continents.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Portugal’s Selenis has finalised the purchase of Artenius Italia, the last remaining PET production company of La Seda de Barcelona (LSB), said Plasteurope.

The PET subsidiary of the Imatosgil Investimentos group of Portuguese entrepreneur Matos Gil, once a major shareholder of La Seda, paid EUR1m for the assets. According to La Seda, Selenis will employ 30 staff at the Italian PET production facility and assume redundancy costs for another 75 workers.

News of the Selenis interest was first revealed back in May when it was reported to be one of two bidders for the Artenius business. The other would-be buyer for the 200,000 tpa PET business in San Giorgio di Nogaro was Ottana Polymers, a Sardinia-based partnership between Indorama Ventures and Italian businessman Paolo Clivati.

As MRC wrote before, Indorama Ventures Ltd., part of global PET giant Indorama Group, has announced it has acquired Artenius TurkPET based in Adana, Turkey. Artenius TurkPET had been part of insolvent Spanish company La Seda de Barcelona and produces PET resin with 130,000 metric tons of capacity.

Seda de Barcelona (LSB) is an industrial plastic packaging group operating internationally through its 14 facilities across Europe, Turkey and North Africa. It is the only European producer capable of supplying PET containers in a fully integrated way from raw material feedstock, conversion technology and design, injection and blow moulding up to the delivered finished product, by means of guaranteeing the quality of all its production processes.The PET and recycling division of LSB has four production plants in Spain, Italy, Greece and Turkey, and two recycling sites in Spain and Italy.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Eastman Chemical Company has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Knowlton Technologies, LLC, said the company in its press release.

The company, which is located in Watertown, NY, is a leader in the design, accelerated prototyping and manufacture of wet-laid nonwovens in filtration, friction and custom designed composite webs.

"Knowlton Technologies is a trusted and established leader in advanced materials with an expertise in wet-laid media prototyping and formulation development. This acquisition will bring a set of complementary skills and development capabilities that will help Eastman better innovate with our nonwovens-producing customers and accelerate the innovation cycle for microfibers in important markets like filtration," said Tim Dell, vice president, innovation. “We look forward to working with Knowlton Technologies’ employees and to continuing to support their customers who have relied on them for high quality products for many years."

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

As MRC wrote before, Eastman Chemical Co. said its second-quarter earnings rose 11% as the chemical and materials company reported improved sales across most of its major business segments that offset weakness at its specialty fluids and intermediates segment.

Eastman is a global specialty chemical company that produces a broad range of products found in items people use every day. With a portfolio of specialty businesses, Eastman works with customers to deliver innovative products and solutions while maintaining a commitment to safety and sustainability. Its market-driven approaches take advantage of world-class technology platforms and leading positions in attractive end-markets such as transportation, building and construction and consumables. Eastman focuses on creating consistent, superior value for all stakeholders. As a globally diverse company, Eastman serves customers in approximately 100 countries and had 2013 revenues of approximately USD9.4 billion. The company is headquartered in Kingsport, Tennessee, USA and employs approximately 14,000 people around the world.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Bayer AG 's second-quarter net profit increased 14%, helped by robust demand for its latest drugs and crop protection products, but the German company tweaked its full-year outlook to reflect the strength of the euro against other currencies, said The Wall Street Journal.

Net profit for the quarter rose to EUR953 million (USD1.28 billion) from EUR841 million a year earlier. Revenue increased 0.9% as adverse currency effects continued to weigh. Adjusted to take into account currency swings and changes in Bayer's portfolio of drug and chemical assets, revenue rose 6.3%. Adjusted earnings before interest and taxes, depreciation and amortization rose 1% to EUR2.22 billion.

"Our life science businesses, in particular, saw unabated growth momentum, with very encouraging sales gains for our recently launched pharmaceutical products and our North and Latin American Crop Science business," said Chief Executive Marijn Dekkers in a news release.

For the full year, Bayer reaffirmed that adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or Ebitda, is set to increase by a low- to mid-single-digit percentage, but the euro's strength is expected to reduce Ebitda by around EUR550 million compared with the previous forecast of EUR450 million. It expects group sales, adjusted for currency and portfolio effects, to rise 6% instead of the previously forecast 5%, allowing for an increased negative currency impact.

"We are upholding the previous guidance for the Group in light of our good operational performance," Mr. Dekkers said.

As MRC wrote before, Bayer MaterialScience (BMS) plans to invest EUR 15 million in the construction of a production line at its Dormagen site, which will use CO2 to produce a precursor for premium polyurethane foam. The line will have an annual production capacity of 5,000 metric tons.

Bayer's five key drugs- blood thinner Xarelto, cancer drugs Stivarga and Xofigo, eye treatment Eylea and pulmonary hypertension drug Adempas- registered combined sales of EUR702 million in the quarter, more than double in the same period last year.

Bayer MaterialScience is among the world’s largest polymer companies. Business activities are focused on the manufacture of high-tech polymer materials and the development of innovative solutions for products used in many areas of daily life. The main segments served are the automotive, electrical and electronics, construction and the sports and leisure industries.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- AkzoNobel has partnered with the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS) at the National University of Singapore in order to explore less costly ways of producing high-efficiency silicon wafer solar cells, reported the company on its site.

The company's High Purity Metalorganics (HPMO) business is a leading supplier of electronic materials to the semiconductor and solar industries. Together with SERIS, they will now investigate how to respond to the photovoltaic industry’s desire to reduce the costs involved in moving towards more efficient cell architectures.

The collaboration has been prompted by the growing expectation that the photovoltaic industry will move towards higher efficiency silicon wafer solar cell architectures.

"AkzoNobel has developed significant knowledge in this field and together with SERIS, will identify how to best reduce the total cost of ownership of solar power," said Dr Bram Hoex, Director of the Silicon Materials and Cells Cluster at SERIS. "In particular, the partnership aims to explore how to produce more cost-efficient metalorganic precursor grades that will offer the kind of long-term benefits the industry is looking for."

The new precursors should offer an attractive alternative to the current commercially available metalorganics, which are designed for applications other than high-efficiency silicon wafer solar cells.

AkzoNobel's HPMO products are used in a wide range of industrial and consumer products, including lasers, solar cells, LEDs and mobile phones.

As MRC wrote previously, AkzoNobel completed the sale of its Primary Amides chemicals business to PMC Group effective December 31, 2013. The sale follows a review of the business' fit within AkzoNobel's Functional Chemicals portfolio, where it operated as a standalone activity.

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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