Huntsman offers more EU concessions over USD1.1 billion Rockwood deal

MOSCOW (MRC) - U.S. chemical maker Huntsman Corp has offered more concessions in an attempt to secure European Union antitrust approval for its proposed USD1.1 billion purchase of Rockwood Holdings Inc's titanium dioxide pigment business, said Reuters.

The deal will make Huntsman the largest processor of sulfate ores, a key raw material which is also a cheaper alternative to chloride ores, and the number two player in titanium dioxide, behind DuPont.

This is the third set of concessions from Huntsman, following earlier proposals submitted to the European Commission in March and earlier this month, the EU competition authority's website showed on Wednesday.

The Commission did not provide details in line with its policy. It is scheduled to decide by Sept. 18 whether to clear or block the deal.

A person familiar with the matter said Huntsman's earlier concessions included an offer to divest units and the latest proposal could include more asset sales.

The Commission opened a broad investigation in March, concerned that the deal may result in higher prices in sulphate-based titanium dioxide, a pigment used as a whitener in products from toothpaste to cars.

Huntsman is a global manufacturer and marketer of differentiated chemicals. The company's operating companies manufacture products for a variety of global industries, including chemicals, plastics, automotive, aviation, textiles, footwear, paints and coatings, construction, technology, agriculture, health care, detergent, personal care, furniture, appliances and packaging.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Nizhnekamskneftekhim, Russia's largest producer of general purpose polystyrene (GPPS) and high impact polystyrene (HIPS), have maintained its August contract prices for the domestic market and export markets at the July's level, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

Some market players said they had anticipated increases in polystyrene (PS) prices in August, following higher contract PS prices in Europe in July and the weakening of the rouble.

It is also worth noting that Gazprom neftekhim Salavat shut down its production for a scheduled maintenance in July. The outage at Gazprom neftekhim Salavat led to a depletion of stocks of PS consumers. Market sources said they expect the launch of the plant's PS production on 10 August. Traders said they intend to start selling Gazprom neftekhim Salavat's PS next week. Buyers said they expect to recieve new prices from the producer, which will be at the June's level.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Germany's Lanxess, the world's largest maker of synthetic rubber, said on Wednesday underlying core earnings rose 21% in the second quarter, helped by cost cuts and solid demand for agrochemicals and construction materials, said Reuters.

Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose to 239 million euros (USD319 million), a touch above the 234 million euro average estimate in a Reuters poll among analysts.

The group narrowed its full-year target range for adjusted EBITDA to 780-820 million euros, compared with a previous range of 770-830 million euros and up from 735 million last year.

As part of ongoing restructuring measures, Lanxess said it would reduce the number of business units to 10 from 14. In addition, management board member Werner Breuers will step down from his post with immediate effect.

As MRC wrote before, Lanxess has successfully concluded the pilot phase for a highly efficient production process for butyl rubber. In the past seven years, Lanxess worked on a fundamentally new technology for a more sustainable production. An important step in this process was the testing of the new technology in two pilot plants at its production site in Zwijndrecht/Belgium since spring 2012. The production process of butyl rubber is highly complex and requires process steps at very low temperatures and significant usage of steam.

Lanxess is a leading specialty chemicals company with sales of EUR 8.3 billion in 2013 and roughly 17,300 employees in 31 countries. The company is currently represented at 52 production sites worldwide. The core business of Lanxess is the development, manufacturing and marketing of plastics, rubber, intermediates and specialty chemicals.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Asahi Kasei (Tokyo, Japan) is likely to shut its naphtha cracker permanently, reported Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Japan informed that the cracker is planned to be shut permanently in April 2016.

Located in Mizushima, Japan, the cracker has an ethylene capacity of 470,000 mt/year and propylene capacity of 300,000 mt/year.

We remind that, as MRC informed previously, Asahi Kasei Chemicals has developed AZP as a new optical polymer featuring zero birefringence achieved through novel molecular design. Manufacturing facilities for AZP will be constructed at the company’s Chiba Plant (Sodegaura, Chiba, Japan), with start-up scheduled for early next year.

Besides, Asahi Kasei’s Fibers division will expand production capacity for polypropylene spunbond nonwovens in Thailand at its subsidiary Asahi Kasei Spunbond (Thailand) Co. AKST will add a new production line of 20,000 metric tons per year capacity which, combined with its existing production line, will double its capacity for spunbond nonwovens to 40,000 m.t/yr. The investment for the capacity expansion is approximately USD5 billion, with a scheduled startup of November 2015.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Westlake Chemical Partners LP (the "Partnership"), a Westlake company, has announced the closing of the Partnership's initial public offering of 12,937,500 common units representing limited partner interests in the Partnership (the "Common Units") at USD24.00 per common unit, as per the company's press release.

The Common Units issued at closing included 1,687,500 common units that were issued pursuant to the full exercise of the underwriters' option to purchase additional Common Units. The Common Units began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on July 30, 2014 under the symbol "WLKP."

The Common Units represent an approximate 47.8% limited partner interest in the Partnership, with Westlake Chemical Corporation and its affiliates owning the remaining approximate 52.2% limited partner interest in the Partnership, the general partner interest in the Partnership and the Partnership incentive distribution rights.

As MRC reported earlier, in early May 2014, Westlake Chemical Corporation announced that one of its wholly owned subsidiaries, Westlake Chemical Partners LP, had filed a Registration Statement on Form S-1 with the US Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") relating to its proposed initial public offering of common units representing limited partner interests.

Westlake Chemical Partners LP is a limited partnership formed to operate, acquire and develop ethylene production facilities and related assets. It is headquartered in Houston, Texas.
MRC