Rising demand for polycarbonate to boost Bisphenol A market through 2019

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Rising demand for polycarbonate (PC) plastics is expected to boost the growth of the global bisphenol A (BPA) market, which is expected to post a CAGR of 5% from 2015-2019, as per Plastemart with reference to Technavio's report.

BPA is a carbon-based synthetic compound used in the production of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins. Polycarbonate plastics have high tensile strength and high thermal stability properties, which makes them useful in the packaging industry, as they can be cleaned easily.

"The light weight property of polycarbonate plastics makes them efficient for the production of light vehicles," says Faisal Ghaus, Vice President of Technavio. "Polycarbonate plastics are used in various industries, including electronics, construction and automotive, and demand for this plastic is increasing gradually."

Furthermore, the report also emphasizes BPA products that are increasingly being used for various industrial applications. "BPA is used to make epoxy resins, which can then be made into highly efficient, lightweight wind turbine blades," says Ghaus.

As MRC informed previously, KHPC, a sole producer of polycarbonate (PC) in Iran, has started exporting different grades of PC to Russian market since April 2015. KHPC finished its fundamental maintenance in early April and was operating with 70% capacity utilisation and planning to increase production in a short time. It is planned to produce new PC grades, such as bottle and optical grades, this year and produce at least 25,000 MT varieties of PC grades.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Valspar has agreed to buy Quest Specialty Chemicals' automotive refinishing business and an industrial coatings business, said the company.

These two business segments finished 2014 with sales of USD190 million, according to a Valspar news release. Terms of the sale, which is expected to close during the third quarter of 2015, were not disclosed.

"The acquisition strengthens Valspar's value proposition in automotive refinish," Valspar CEO Gary Hendrickson said in the release. "Our customers will benefit from expanded distribution of a portfolio of preferred brands they know and trust, a broader range of high-performance products and a stronger service network."

Quest Automotive Products formulates, manufactures and distributes technology paints, coatings systems and accessories to professional refinishers in North America and Europe.

As MRC informed earlier, Valspar completed development of a USD45m manufacturing centre in Tianjin, China, for a range of paints and coatings products in April 2015.

The Valspar Corporation is an American international manufacturer of paint and coatings based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. With nearly 10,000 employees in 25 countries and a company history that spans over two centuries long, it is the sixth largest paint and coating corporation in the world. Valspar was founded in 1806 as a paint dealership in Boston, Massachusetts. The Valspar name emerged in 1903 as a new clear varnish, and became the company name in 1932.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- UOP LLC, a Honeywell company, has announced that Japan's Taiyo Oil Co. Ltd. has begun producing petrochemicals with UOP's Tatoray process technology, which provides greater flexibility to produce either gasoline or valuable petrochemicals as demand changes, reported Plastemart.

Taiyo Oil licensed the process technology from UOP in 2013 for its Shikoku Operations in Japan. The new unit started production late last year and met all of its performance guarantees two weeks after start-up.

The Tatoray process substantially increases production of benzene and xylenes, which are used to produce polymers and plastics.

"With domestic gasoline demand declining, Japan has become the world leader in reallocating feedstocks, such as naphtha, from making motor fuels to producing in-demand petrochemicals, making Japan one of the largest exporters of components used to make paraxylene," said Pete Piotrowski, senior vice president and general manager of UOP's Process Technology and Equipment business unit. "The Tatoray process can more than double the production of mixed xylenes, while significantly reducing the cost of production, making it one of the most economical ways to increase yields of xylenes and benzene." Before Taiyo began using the Tatoray process, the plant used UOP Thermal Hydro-Dealkylation (THDA) technology to convert less valuable, heavy aromatics to benzene, which is used to make plastics and detergents.

As MRC wrote previously, Taiyo Petrochemical is likely to shut its styrene monomer (SM) plant for maintenance turnaround in October 2015. It is expected to remain shut for around one month. Located at Ube in Japan, the plant has a production capacity of 370,000 mt/year.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sika has achieved outstanding results in this year’s leading brand rating in Switzerland, “Best Swiss Brands 2015” : The brand value of the international specialty chemical company has increased by 78% in the last twelve months and was assessed best improver in the ranking, said the producer.

With its current 39th position, Sika belongs to the top 50 Swiss brands. The annual rating by international agency Interbrand assessed ten internal and external factors, including the financial strength (economic profit) of a company. On this criterion, Sika outperformed other leading Swiss brands and laid the foundation for increasing its brand value. Sales in 2014 reached record levels in all regions and all relevant growth targets were exceeded with sales of CHF 5,571.3 million, an EBIT of CHF 633.2 million and a net profit of CHF 441.2 million.

Another driver of the brand value gain were Sika’s comprehensive communication activities to shape the company’s reputation and increase brand awareness, such as a worldwide advertising campaign based on the attributes of performance and trust. Furthermore, in 2014 Sika engaged with key stakeholders in a transparent and holistic way by offering comprehensive information about the company's strength and major achievements through events, media initiatives and a renewed web presence.

As MRC informed earlier, Sika net profit for the 12 months to Dec. 31 rose to 441.2 mln Swiss francs (USD463.5 mln), from 344.7 mln francs in 2013. The figure beat analyst expectations of 414 mln francs. Sales, which were previously announced on Jan. 13, rose 8.4% to 5.57 bn francs from 5.14 bn francs a year earlier.

Sika is a specialty chemicals company with a leading position in the development and production of systems and products for bonding, sealing, damping, reinforcing and protecting in the building sector and the motor vehicle industry. Sika has subsidiaries in 90 countries around the world and manufactures in over 160 factories. Its more than 16,000 employees generated annual sales of CHF 5.6 billion in 2014.MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Germany-based Evonik systematically advanced its commitment for more sustainability last year, said the company in its press release.

The company reports on the advances that were achieved in its Sustainability Report 2014. The specialty chemicals company globally assumes responsibility for its businesses, employees, the environment and society. In doing so, Evonik takes a targeted approach in increasing its contribution to a sustainable development with its resource-saving products and solutions and the continuous improvement of its processes. Evonik’s Chief Human Resources Officer Thomas Wessel remarked: "We are reacting to a growing demand from our customers for products that strike a balance between economic, ecological and social factors. When it comes to sustainability, Evonik considers the entire value chain-from raw material supply to product application."

Evonik aims at improving the company’s ecological footprint. The company makes a contribution to climate protection by consistently working on reducing its specific greenhouse gas emissions, among other things. Compared to the previous year, they were cut by one percentage point in 2014. Compared to the reference year 2012, they are now 93 percent.

By 2020, Evonik wants to cut its specific greenhouse gas emissions by 12 percent in comparison to the production in 2012. The performance indicator includes direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions. In the same period, the specific water consumption indicating water consumption during production is to be reduced by 10 percent. In 2014, it had increased by eight percentage points and is thus up three percentage points from 2012.

As part of Evonik's strategic development, the Executive Board decided in summer 2014 to manage the sustainability topic in an independent corporate division in the Chief Human Resources Officer’s area of responsibility. Topics derived from the sustainability strategy are implemented via binding objectives in the business and corporate units.

In 2014, Evonik was included in the stock market indexes for responsible investment, FTSE4Good Global and STOXX Global ESG. STOXX Limited lists the company in the Global ESG Leaders index. The Sustainalytics and Oekom Research rating agencies count Evonik among the leading companies when evaluating sustainability performance. The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) rated the Group on a very high level of 91B in its first participation in the Investor CDP 2014.

Evonik, the creative industrial group from Germany, is one of the world leaders in specialty chemicals. Its activities focus on the key megatrends health, nutrition, resource efficiency and globalization. Evonik benefits specifically from its innovative prowess and integrated technology platforms. Evonik is active in over 100 countries around the world. In fiscal 2014 more than 33,000 employees generated sales of around EUR12.9 billion and an operating profit (adjusted EBITDA) of about EUR1.9 billion.
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