Swedish compounder makes first North American plastics acquisition

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Swedish rubber compounder Hexpol AB has made its first North American plastics acquisition, buying the plastics compounding business of RheTech Inc. for USD112 million, said the company in its press release.

RheTech is based in Whitmore Lake, Mich., operating a plant there, as well as plants in Fowlerville, Mich.; Sandusky, Ohio; and Blacksburg, S.C. The business employs 212 and posted sales of USD117 million in 2013.

The unit’s primary products are polypropylene-based compounds for the automotive market. It also ranks among North America’s 30 largest compounders and concentrate makers, according to a Plastics News estimate.
In a Dec. 22 news release, Hexpol President Georg Brunstam said RheTech "is a very good complement to our present polymer compounding business."

Malmo, Sweden-based Hexpol currently does plastic and rubber compounding in Europe and rubber compounding in North America.

In 2010, Hexpol paid more than USD200 million for Burton, Ohio-based Excel Polymers, the rubber compounding business of plastics compounding leader PolyOne Corp. Earlier this year, Hexpol added Portage Precision Polymers Inc. — a rubber compounder in Mogadore, Ohio — to its North American holdings.

Hexpol officials in 2011 told Plastics News the firm was looking for a North American plastics acquisition. The firm employs 3,700 worldwide and has annual sales of more than USD1 billion. In addition to rubber and plastics materials, Hexpol makes heat exchanger and other systems for the automotive, energy and medical industries.

Hexpol is buying RheTech from the Orley family, which founded the firm in Detroit in 1968.

As MRC wrote before, in early December Hexpol acquired the business of Portage Precision Polymers Inc. from the founder Mr. Doug Hartley and his family. Doug Hartley started Portage Precision Polymers in 2002 and Portage Precision is today a well-known Rubber Compounder in the US market.

Hexpol is a world-leading polymers group with strong global market positions in advanced polymer compounds (Compounding), gaskets for plate heat exchangers (Gaskets) and wheels made of plastic and rubber materials for forklifts and castor wheel applications (Wheels).

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF’s Coatings division is now the sole supplier of automotive coatings for the new plant of the Chinese automaker Chery in Jacarei, Brazil, which started operations in August 2014, as per BASF's press release.

The shades that BASF will supply are red, white, black, silver and gray. Not only the metal, but also the plastic parts will be painted with BASF's technology. The supply agreement between BASF and Chery includes waterborne coatings and the cathodic e-coat CathoGuard 800.

Earlier this year, BASF has invested EUR2.5 million in its Demarchi Coatings site, located in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil, to expand its capacity to service Brazil’s automotive industry with waterborne automotive coatings.

In these products, the water replaces most organic solvents, reducing emissions of VOCs (volatile organic compounds) without impairing the quality of the coating or the color tone. "This new technology developed by BASF is therefore an innovative and eco-efficient solution, which is becoming a trend in this market," said Fabian Garcia, BASF Key Account Manager for Automotive OEM Coatings in Brazil..

"For us, it is extremely important to establish a strong partnership with our customers. BASF is a company that focuses on innovation and which is always willing to seek the best solutions to suit the customer’s needs. In Chery’s case, with the first plant outside of China, we have a great opportunity to contribute with quality and sustainable products," said Garcia.

As MRC informed previously, in March 2014, BASF announced the development of a broad portfolio of raw materials for coatings destined for the paints, construction, furniture and flooring coatings as well as automotive and industrial coatings industries.

BASF is the leading chemical company. It produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries. BASF had sales of about EUR74 billion in 2013 and over 112,000 employees as of the end of the year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Turkish petrochemicals major Petkim (part of SOCAR) is expected to float paraxylene (PX) tenders in January after a gap of six months, reported Apic-online with reference to a source close to the company.

The company usually sells its PX through tenders that offer the product in lots of 5,000 mt.

The company's aromatics plant in Aliaga can produce 119,000 mt/year of PX and 134,000 mt/year of benzene. The company shut the plant for a turnaround at the end of July and restarted it end-November.

Petkim is also currently in contract negotiations with PX buyers for 2015, the source said.

As MRC wrote before, in late July. Turkish petrochemicals major Petkim Petrokimya Holdings staged an official opening for a new plastic packaging factory at its petrochemical complex in the western Turkish town of Aliaga.

Petkim is the leading petrochemical company of Turkey. Specializing in petrochemical manufacturing, the company produces ethylene, polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, polypropylene and other chemical building blocks for use in the manufacture of plastics, textiles, and other consumer and industrial products.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Lanxess, the specialty chemicals company, has introduced new liquid colors used for coloring the cast-in-situ concrete, which are based on the weather-stable inorganic pigments, reported the company on its site.

Thus, for the first time, colored concrete safety barriers are ensuring safety on German roads - and enhancing their visual appeal, too. Instead of drab gray, three sections in green, ocher, red and yellow blend perfectly into the Baden-Wuerttemberg landscape.

The K 1060 in the Boblingen region of Germany connects the town of Renningen and its industrial areas to the general road network. Part of the regional road redevelopment agreed in November 2014 required providing protective measures at various points. Tenders were invited for cast-in-situ concrete walls with the option of coloring these.

The three sections of the pilot project have a total length of around half a kilometer. The area that has been integrated into a landscaped embankment to support a cycle path is colored with green Colortherm chromium oxide pigments. Orange Bayferrox iron oxide pigments were used for the opposite side of the road, with the color matched to the stone wall behind and creating a contrast to the abutment of a bridge.

A total of 180 cubic meters of concrete were used for the pilot project. A truck mixer load of approximately eight cubic meters was sufficient for 20 to 25 meters of concrete safety barrier.

Colored exposed concrete sections made of cast-in-situ concrete create a visual impact and can separate different areas such as bus lanes, crossings and cycle paths clearly and durably, thus boosting safety. The design possibilities are virtually limitless - the environmentally safe Bayferrox and Colortherm inorganic color pigments from Lanxess are available in red, yellow, green, brown and black. A total of more than 100 different shades are available for a wide range of application areas. The pigments are cement- and alkali-resistant and completely weather- and light-stable.

As MRC informed previously, in April 2014, Lanxess 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. The new process technology is significantly more energy and cost efficient.

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) -- State-run Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) is planning to raise Rs 4,000 crore for the expansion of its Kochi refinery and to fund its petrochemicals venture, said three banking sources aware of the development. State Bank of India (SBI) has received the mandate to raise funds, said Business-standard.

BPCL is planning to diversify into downstream petrochemicals with an investment of Rs 4,588 crore by using propylene. The public sector refiner is planning to produce niche petrochemicals such as acrylic acid, acrylates and oxo alcohols, which are predominantly being imported into the country, at its Kochi refinery facility, using the polymer grade propylene that will be available after the ongoing integrated refinery expansion project (IREP) is completed.

"The board of directors of BPCL has given their approval for diversification into petrochemicals at an estimated capital cost of Rs 4,588 crore," BPCL had said this month. "We will be financing the project through both internal accruals and external financing," said a senior BPCL official. The company will invest around Rs 14,225 crore in its expansion at the Kochi refinery and Rs 5,000 crore for setting up a petrochemical joint venture.

The total investment in both the projects is about Rs 20,000 crore. BPCL is in the process of increasing the refining capacity of Kochi refinery from 9.5 million tonne per annum (mtpa) to 15.5 mtpa under IREP project and improve the auto-fuel quality to Euro-IV/V levels to meet the growing demand of petroleum products in Indian market.This would also upgrade the refinery residue stream to value added distillates, which BPCLis planning to use for diversification into value-added petrochemical products.

BPCL’s planned petrochemical products will have major applications in industries such as paints and coatings, adhesives, plasticisers, solvents, water treatment, etc. The petrochemical unit is expected to come on stream during the financial year 2018-19. The project proposal will now be submitted for obtaining environmental clearance, said BPCL.

The Kochi refinery is presently producing petrochemical feed stocks such as benzene, toluene and propylene in addition to the various petroleum products and specialty products. Increased quantities of naphtha will be produced in the refinery after the proposed capacity expansion.

BPCL will integrate the refinery with a petrochemicals complex to utilise naphtha and other feedstocks from the refinery.

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) is an Indian state-controlled oil and gas company headquartered in Mumbai, India. Bharat Petroleum owns refineries at Mumbai, Maharashtra and Kochi, Kerala (Kochi Refineries) with a capacity of 12 and 9.5 million metric tonnes per year.
MRC