Sumitomo Chemical to mothball naphtha cracker

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Japan's Sumitomo Chemical Co plans to mothball the ageing 415,000 tpa naphtha cracker at its Chiba plant from May 11, as per Reuters.

To offset lost production, Sumitomo Chemical last month raised its stake in Maruzen Petrochemical Co's 55-percent-owned unit Keiyo Ethylene to 45 percent and will receive 59.4 percent of petrochemical output from the venture's naphtha cracker.

Though Sumitomo Chemical's cracker will be shut for good, the company plans to resume operations of downstream petrochemical units at the Chiba plant from the beginning of July, using petrochemical feedstock from Keiyo Ethylene's 768,000 tpy cracker located nearby, a Sumitomo Chemical spokesman said.

A total of seven new pipelines are in the process of being installed to transport petrochemicals to Sumitomo Chemical's plant starting in July, Maruzen officials said.

Three naphtha crackers in Japan are scheduled to be closed between 2014 and 2016 in the face of declining domestic demand and stiff competition from newer ethylene plants in South Korea and Singapore.

As MRC informed before, Sumitomo Chemical will permanently wind up the operations of an ethylene plant at its Chiba Works in Ichihara, Chiba, in or before September 2015, following a decline in domestic demand for ethylene derivatives.

Sumitomo Chemical is a Japanese based manufacturer of a diverse range of products, including basic chemicals, petrochemicals and plastics, fine chemicals, agricultural chemicals, IT-related chemicals and pharmaceuticals.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Hyundai Cosmo Petrochemical (HCP) is in plans to restart its No. 2 paraxylene (PX) plant, reported Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in South Korea informed that the plant is planned to be restarted in early June 2015. It was shut in early April 2015 for maintenance turnaround.

Located at Daesan in South Korea, the plant has a production capacity of 800,000 mt/year.

As MRC wrote previously, this PS plant jointly built by Cosmo Oil and Hyundai Oilbank in South Korea began commercial operations in January 2013.

Paraxylene is used in producing polyester, a raw material for plastic bottles and textiles.

Hyundai Cosmo Petrochemical (HCP) is a 50-50 venture between Japan’s Cosmo Oil and South Korea’s Hyundai Oilbank.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- LyondellBasell, the world’s biggest maker of polypropylene plastic, has announced that its Supervisory Board has authorized the company's Management Board to declare an interim dividend of USD0.78 per share, representing an 11% increase from the company's first quarter 2015 dividend, reported the company on its site.

The interim dividend will be paid June 15, 2015 to shareholders of record June 1, 2015, with an ex-dividend date of May 28, 2015.

The company also announced that at its Annual General Meeting on May 6, 2015, shareholders approved a new share repurchase program authorizing the company to repurchase up to 10% of the company's 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 returned approximately USD17.2 billion through share repurchases and dividends since January 2011 and, since initiating share repurchases in 2013, has repurchased approximately 110 million shares. This new share repurchase program and the increase in the regular interim dividend is reflective of our continuing commitment to returning value to our shareholders," said CEO, Bob Patel.

As MRC informed before, last summer, LyondellBasell delayed the start-up of expanded production at its ethylene plant in La Porte, Tex. because of a mechanical issue with a compressor at the plant, which was partially to blame for the extended turnaround at La Porte.

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) -- Ferro Corporation has signed a definitive agreement with the shareholders of Barcelona-based Nubiola Pigmentos to acquire 100% of the equity of Nubiola, on a cash-free and debt-free basis, for EUR146 million, the company announced.

Nubiola is among the worldwide producers of specialty inorganic pigments and the among the world’s largest producers of Ultramarine Blue, a high-value pigment for plastics and construction industries due to its durability, unique color attributes and its whitening capability. Based on 2014 EBITDA, excluding expected transaction synergies, the acquisition purchase price represents a transaction multiple of approximately 7X. The transaction will be funded with excess cash and a draw on the Company’s existing revolving credit facility. The transaction is expected to close within the next 60 days, subject to customary closing conditions.

Other products of Nubiola include specialty Iron Oxides, Chrome Oxide Greens and Corrosion Inhibitors. Nubiola generated 2014 annual sales of $119 million, based on the current euro exchange rate, and achieved compound annual growth of 4.1% over the last three years. The 101-year-old family-owned company employs approximately 750 people, including temporary employees, and has production facilities in Spain, Colombia, Romania, and India and a joint venture in China. Nubiola sells into more than 85 countries. The majority of Nubiola’s customers serve the plastics and construction industries.

Commenting on the proposed transaction, Peter Thomas, Chairman, President and CEO of Ferro Corporation, said, "Nubiola is an excellent strategic fit with Ferro, as we strengthen our position as a global color solutions provider. The acquisition will significantly expand our product portfolio and geographic footprint and more than triple the size of our addressable market in inorganic pigments to greater than $1 billion. Nubiola will bring technology leadership on a global scale in Ultramarine Blue, along with a range of other high-value pigment and corrosion inhibitor product lines."

As MRC informed earlier, in 2014 A. Schulman, Inc. completed its acquisition of a selected majority of the assets of the Specialty Plastics business segment from Ferro Corporation for USD91 million in cash.

Ferro provides manufacturers cars, containers and packaging, building and industrial products, household furnishings, personal electronics to medical devices.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- EU countries will be required to reduce the use of the commonest and most polluting plastic bags drastically under new rules voted by Parliament, as per EP's press release.

"This legislation will create a genuine win-win situation" said Margrete Auken (Greens/EFA, DK), who is steering the legislation through Parliament. "We're talking about an immense environmental problem. Billions of plastic bags end up directly in nature as untreated waste. It damages nature, harms fish, birds, and we have to get to grips with this",. she added, after Parliament accepted her second reading recommendation that it endorse the deal struck with the Council of Ministers in November last year.

"The European Commission said that countries should deal with the matter themselves, but in fact they are not! 740 million euros per annum, according to the Commission's own calculations, will be saved".

EU member states will be able to choose: either to take measures to reduce annual average consumption of plastic bags to 90 lightweight bags per citizen by the end of 2019 and 40 by the end of 2025, or ensure that by the end of 2018, no more light plastic bags are handed over free of charge to shoppers.

Furthermore, the European Commission is required to assess the impact on the environment of oxo-degradable plastic materials, which fragment into small particles, and propose suitable measures. By 2017, the European Commission will have to propose labelling and marking measures for an EU-wide recognition of biodegradable and compostable plastic bags.

Lightweight plastic bags thinner than 50 microns – the vast majority of plastic carrier bags used in the EU – are less reusable than thicker models and become waste more quickly. They are also more prone to litter the environment and severely pollute water bodies and aquatic eco-systems.

In 2010 every EU citizen used an estimated 198 plastic carrier bags, some 90% of which were lightweight. In a business-as-usual scenario, consumption of plastic bags is expected to increase further. An estimated eight billion plastic carrier bags became litter in the EU in 2010.
MRC