Bemis Co. Inc. selling pressure-sensitive materials business

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Bemis Co. Inc. is selling off its pressure-sensitive materials business in a move that will raise cash to help expand the company’s flexible packaging business, said Plasticsnews.

The Neenah, Wis.-based company revealed Sept. 8 plans to sell the business known as MACtac to Platinum Equity LLC, a private equity firm based in California, for USD170 million.

"Bemis is now position to dedicate all of our resources to accelerating strategic growth in our core flexible packaging business," CEO William Austen said in a statement.

Selling off the pressure-sensitive portion of the company also allows that operation to grow under Platinum Equity, Austen said.

The business being sold has manufacturing sites in Scranton, Pa.; Columbus, Ind.; San Luis Potosi, Mexico; Soignies, Belgium, and Genk, Belgium. Offices are in Stow, Ohio.

Even with annual sales of USD553 million, the pressure-sensitive business represents just a small sliver of the company’s USD5 billion in annual sales.

Bemis, earlier this year, also sold off its paper packaging division to Hood Packaging Corp. Platinum Equity, based in Los Angeles, also owns BWAY corp., a maker of rigid plastic and metal containers.

As MRC wrote before, Bemis Co. is closing a plant in St. Louis Park and will close one in Minneapolis. Both facilities make flexible packaging for food under the Curwood brand, a division of Bemis. Bemis has been drifting away from the Twin Cities for decades. The company had been growing in Wisconsin, not Minnesota, and wanted to move its executives closer to its geographic center.

Bemis, founded in 1858, is North America’s largest film and sheet manufacturer with annual sales of USD5.3 billion, according to the most recent Plastics News ranking. It makes packaging for everything from diapers to grass seed to snacks, as well as pressure-sensitive packaging and sealed plastic for medical products. It has about 45 factories in North America, as well as operations in Europe, Latin America, Australia and Asia.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Imports of polycarbonate (PC) to the Russian market dropped from January to August 2014 by 6% year on year and totalled 29,600 tonnes, according to MRC DataScope.

At the same time, imports of unfilled PC granules decreased by 7% to 25,400 tonnes. Imports of PC compounds and acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) remained at the same level as last year (2,500 tonnes). Imports of PC blend compounds increased by 95% and reached 1,300 tonnes.
311 tonnes of glass-filled PS were shipped to Russia from January to August 2014, down by 63% year on year.

The extrusion sector accounted for 68% of the total imports to the PC market over the first eight months of the year, of which pure PC granules accounted for 65% and PC blend compounds (material used as a protective layer for the finished coextrusion PC sheets) - about 3%. Despite the overall fall in imports, shipments of extrusion PC granules to Russia remained at the last year's level and totalled 19,300 tonnes.

The main reasons for the general decline in imports were the devaluation of the rouble and higher domestic prices for the products of foreign producers. Converters also reported the complexity of procedures of short and medium term financing, a shortage of working capital to purchase material and a need to increase terms of trade credit for buyers.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Bashkir company Gazprom neftekhim Salavat, one of the largest Russian producers of petrochemical products, had resumed its production of high density polyethylene (HDPE) by Monday after an unscheduled outage, reported MRC analysts.

Gazprom neftekhim Salavat had resumed its HDPE production by Monday, 8 September, after the unscheduled shutdown on 1 September. The outage at the plant's HDPE production earlier this month occurred because of technical issues, reported by the company's customers.

Gazprom neftekhim Salavat's annual HDPE production capacity is 120,000 tons with the possibility to expand it to 200,000 tonnes, using LyondellBasell's technology. The launch took place in March 2010. The overall HDPE production at the plant increased to 59,700 tonnes over the first eight months of 2014.
mrcpast.com

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Perstorp, a world leader in specialty chemicals, such as Capa, will be highlighting at UTECH Asia/PU China 2014 its growing commitment to China as the company’s production platform in Zibo is being expanded to include a new neopentyl glycol (Neo) plant, reported the company on its press release.

Perstorp in China has also re-enforced its sales organization in order to better meet local customer needs. As a well-established brand in the Chinese market for more than 25 years, Perstorp has been producing TMP (trimethylolpropane) in China since 2008.

Capa is a very versatile specialty polyol, with a focus on demanding TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane), polyurethane coatings and cast elastomer applications such as automotive seals and gaskets, synthetic leather and textile coatings, and wheels and rollers.

Capa polycaprolactones are flexible and versatile in both product applications and production. It offers excellent mechanical properties and easy processing for faster cycle times in injection molding. They also possess low viscosity, resulting in improved processability and lower VOC levels together with improved UV and chemical resistance.

As MRC reported before, in February 2014, Perstorp introduced a new business model, a new organizational structure, a new management team and a cost competitiveness program.

Besides, in September 2013, Perstorp launched Pevalen as a non-phthalate plasticizer meeting market demand in sensitive applications. Pevalen is a plasticizer based on well-proven, reliable chemistry. As a non-phthalate plasticizer alternative it does not compromise performance in any way. In fact performance is equal to or better than other plasticizers used today.

Perstorp is one of the world leaders in various sectors of the specialty chemicals market, it's pioneer in formalin chemistry, plastics and surface materials. Perstorp was founded in 1881 and is controlled by PAI partners,a major European private equity company. The company has around 1,500 employees in with 22 production plants in Europe, Asia and North America.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Clariant, a world leader in specialty chemicals, is introducing China’s local automotive and transportation industry players to solutions which enhance lightweight plastics for under-the-hood, interior and exterior parts, in support of their increasing interest in using plastics and polymer-based components to achieve greater fuel efficiency, reported the company on its site.

The global automotive industry is embracing plastics in the trend toward weight reduction, metal replacement and energy reduction. Plastics also support improved aesthetics, vibration and noise control, and cabin insulation. In 2011, plastics made up 12-15% of modern cars. This is expected to ultimately increase to more than 20% in the future. In 2005, the global consumption of plastic per car was 150kg, rising from 105kg in 2000. During the next decade, it is expected that plastics will account for 18 percent of the average vehicle’s weight, up from 14 percent in 2000.

European and American OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers are already taking advantage of the performance, productivity and associated environmental benefits offered by Clariant’s wide range of additives and solutions for plastics and polymer-based components. These range from productivity improvements generated through lower molding temperatures and shorter cycle times, to facilitating the development of parts with environmentally-friendly flame retardancy, superior thermal resistance and smoother surfaces. Clariant offers solutions for the most commonly used plastics - polypropylene (PP), polyamides (PA), polyurethanes (PUR) and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) - which account for 70% of the plastics used in a car, and the composites and higher-end plastics which account for the rest.

Michael Grosskopf, Head of Business Unit Additives, Clariant comments: "More than 22 million cars and commercial vehicles were produced in China in 2013. That’s a significant increase of 14.8% on 2012. Plastics offer this fast-growing sector a viable, cost-effective response to the drive by both global OEMs and local players for optimum fuel efficiency and greater sustainability in their operations. Clariant is well-prepared to support the growing demand, with solutions that clearly enhance the performance of polymers to meet the demanding requirements of the automotive industry."

As MRC informed previously, Clariant is increasing production capacity for its Licocene Performance Polymers by 50% at its facility on the Frankfurt-Hochst Industrial Park in Germany. The debottlenecking of Clariant’s existing production line represents a low double-digit million Swiss Franc investment, with the additional capacity scheduled to come on stream in Q1 2016.

Clariant AG is a Swiss chemical company and a world leader in the production of specialty chemicals for the textile, printing, mining and metallurgical industries. It is engaged in processing crude oil products in pigments, plastics and paints.
MRC