DuPont forecasts higher 2016 earnings, helped by cost cuts

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Chemicals and seed producer DuPont forecast higher 2016 earnings, helped by aggressive cost-cutting to offset continued pressure from a strong dollar and weakness in its farm business, said Cnbc.

The company forecast full year operating earnings of USD2.95-$3.10 per share, including an expected benefit of 64 cents per share from its cost cutting and restructuring plan.

DuPont and Dow Chemical Co are in the process of a merger that would create a company with an estimated combined market capitalization of about USD130 billion as of Dec. 11, when the deal was announced. The companies plan to then break up into three separate standalone businesses.

"Our merger process is on track," DuPont Chief Executive Edward Breen said. "We are meeting key milestones and have begun our planning to create three strong, highly focused, independent businesses in agriculture, material science and specialty products."

As MRC informed earlier, Dupont reported a quarterly profit of 27 cents per share, excluding items, that slightly beat analysts' average estimate of 26 cents. However, including restructuring and other charges of USD622 million, the company reported a quarterly net loss. Net loss attributable to the company was USD253 million, or 29 cents per share, in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, from USD683 million, or 74 cents per share, a year earlier. Net sales fell 9.4 percent to USD5.3 billion.

DuPont is an American chemical company that was founded in July, 1802. The company manufactures a wide range of chemical products, leading extensive innovative research in this field. The company is the inventor of many unique plastics and other materials, including neoprene, nylon, Teflon, Kevlar, Mylar, Tyvek, etc. DuPont was the developer and main producer of Freon used in the production of refrigeration equipment.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Injection molder US Farathane Corp. has staked out more international territory by acquiring Shanghai-based Boston Plastics, said Plasticsnews.

The firm finalized the purchase Jan. 22 for undisclosed terms, a spokesperson said. The Jan. 27 announcement of the deal came two weeks after Farathane revealed it bought Tepso Plastics Mex to give it two manufacturing plants in Mexico.

Boston Plastics does injection molding and assembly in Shanghai, Taicang and Changchun. About half its business is molding automotive parts such as interior components, with the rest split between industrial and other markets. It was established in Singapore in 2005.

Farathane’s international profile is expanding a year after private equity Gores Group acquired the company. Gores’s principals have experience in Asia and other markets and are helping guide Farathane’s growth. A spokesperson said Farathane is now looking at Eastern Europe for a potential manufacturing location.

Farathane said the China deal puts it into the largest global auto market in the world, and will help the firm serve carmakers in both the United States and China.

"The acquisition will enable us to increase US Farathane’s immediate reach into the China market, while simultaneously opening up new business with direct OEMs," said Boston Plastics general manager Eddie Chia in a news release.

The latest deal gives Farathane a total of 16 manufacturing plants in China, Mexico and the United States. It is headquartered in Auburn Hills, Mich.

Stout Risius Ross Advisors LLC and Mummert & Co. served as financial advisers to Boston Plastics.

With 16 manufacturing facilities in the United States, Mexico, and China and headquartered in Auburn Hills, MI, US Farathane Corporation is a leading solutions partner to the North American automotive OEMs providing functional black plastic and interior and exterior plastic components. US Farathane is ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certified as well as TS 16949 certified. US Farathane customers include FCA, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Toyota, and several other large global OEMs.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Arabia’s Sadara Chemical Co. (Sadara) is on schedule to start up the new butyl glycol (BG) plant in the second half of 2016, said Argaam.

The Jubail-based plant will have a combined BG and and butyl di-glycol (BdG) capacity of 200,000 tons per year.

As MRC informed earlier, on 8, December 2015, Sadara Basic Services, fully owned by Sadara Chemical, started at its polyethylene (PE) plant in Jubail Industrial City II. The plant is designed to produce 375,000 metric tons per year of products used in specialty applications, such as the manufacture of food-grade plastics, industrial and consumer packaging and health and hygiene films, it said in a bourse statement.

The USD20 billion Sadara is 65 percent-owned by Saudi Arabian Oil Co. and 35 percent-owned by the United States' petrochemical major, Dow Chemical.

Located in Jubail Industrial City, Sadara is deemed the world’s largest chemicals complex built in a single phase with 26 integrated manufacturing plants.


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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Replacement of traditional packaging applications and reduced atmospheric emissions are the reasons for increase in the demand of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) market, as per Research and Markets.

About 72% of the PET resin demand was from the bottle application, driven by the beverage bottles for mineral water, carbonated soft drinks, ready to drink tea, and functional, dairy, and energy drinks. It is expected that light weight PET bottle trend will continue in future as it is a cost saving measure. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) are used in an increasing number of markets - from Packaging, Automotive, Electrical & electronics, Consumer Appliances and others.

The key drivers of PET industry are population growth, rise in disposable income, urbanization in developing economies, and growing fast moving consumer goods, and restraint such as being a capital and technology intensive industry.

Demand for PET is rising with polyester and food and beverages industries determining market behavior.
The market is and will be characterized by excessive capacity bringing it to oversupply. The influence of PET performs sector is decreasing as packaging industry witnesses change to lighter-weighted bottles and carbonated drinks consumption decline (especially in North America), besides the share of recycled material application is growing.

As MRC informed previously, global bio based PET market is expected to reach 5,800 kilo tons by 2020 , according to a new study by Grand View Research, Inc.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Polyethylene production at Mexico's Etileno XXI petrochemical complex is on course to begin in Q1-2016, with resins available to the US market, said Plastemart, citing Platts.

"We hope to start production of the first PE grades in March and by Q2 we will have various grades available to export to the US,' the source said. Company officials previously said the cracker would begin operations in February, with the startup of output at the polyethylene plants coming in March. There was market talk that PE resins from the complex would not be available to the US market. However, that claim was dismissed as exports to the US have always played a part in the company's strategy.

The project is anchored by a 1 mln mt/year ethylene steam cracker and includes 1 mln mt/year of PE capacity.

The joint venture between Brazil's Braskem (with 75%) and Mexico's Grupo Idesa (25%) will focus on meeting Mexico's growing PE demand, with remaining output available for export, including to the US and South America.

As MRC wrote before, in 2012, Braskem Idesa announced the approval of a line of credit in the amount of USD700 million by the Brazlian National Economic and Social Development Bank - BNDES to finance the construction of the largest petrochemical complex being developed in the Americas: Braskem Idesa- Etileno XXI Project. The group of financial institutions will also include Mexico's development banks, Bancomext and Nafinsa- Nacional Financiera, and commercial whose loans are subject to the completion and closing of the formal documentation.

Braskem is Brazilian main producer of polyethylene and polypropylene. In addition with ongoing plants located in both petrochemical complexes, in April 2008 Braskem opened a 300,000 metric ton polypropylene plant in the city of Paulinia (Sao Paulo).
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