Accella agrees to purchase spray polyurethane foam business from Covestro

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Accella Polyurethane Systems LLC, a portfolio company of Arsenal Capital Partners, has reached a deal with Covestro LLC to acquire certain assets of the target’s spray polyurethane foam (SPF) business, said the producer on its site.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The deal for portions of the Covestro business includes both commercial and production operations based in Spring, Texas. The facility serves North America as a producer SPF, often used as insulation and roofing material for the construction industry. The divesture of the SPF business will allow the Covestro to focus on its core assets such as polymers and high-performance plastics, according to Covestro president Jerry MacCleary.

Accella is also a manufacturer of custom polyurethane systems, spray foams, tire fillings, and rubber technology. The buyer’s polyurethane business is focused on foams, binders, coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers. Accella, headquartered in Maryland Heights, Missouri, operates from eight facilities across the U.S., in addition to one facility in Europe and China. The buyer distributes its products under the brands: Dash Multi-Corp, MarChem, Arnco, Pathway Polymers, Ultimate Systems, RB Rubber, IPS Polymer Systems, Zeus, Premium Spray Products, Coating & Foam Solutions, Burtin Polymer Labs and Quadrant Spray Foam. The deal for Covestro is expected close in the second quarter of 2017.

Headquartered in New York City, Arsenal is a lower middle market private equity firm focused on industrial and healthcare companies with up to USD250 million in enterprise value. The firm recently closed its fourth private equity fund, called Arsenal Capital Fund IV LP, with $1.3 billion in capital commitments. Since Arsenal formed Polymer Solutions Group through the acquisition of Peach State Labs Inc. in 2015, the PE firms has backed several add-on deals that include: Alkon Solutions Ltd, a maker of liquid coatings and powder for the rubber industry; Flow Polymers LLC, a manufacturer of plastic and rubber additives; and Sasco Chemical Group, a producer of anti-tack agents for the rubber industry.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Basic Industries Corporation's (SABIC) profits fell 4.95% year-on-year in 2016, said Englishmubasher.

Net earnings decreased to SAR 17.84 billion in 2016 from SAR 18.77 billion in 2015, according to a bourse filing.

The fall in net profits was attributed to lower average sales prices and higher zakat provision, adding to a decrease in cost of sales as well as general and administrative expenses.

Revenues dropped 10%, reaching SAR 132.83 billion in 2016 compared to SAR 148.09 billion in 2015.

As MRC informed earlier, a decision on whether Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) will go ahead with a JV with ExxonMobil will likely be made by Q2 2017.

Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) ranks among the world's top petrochemical companies. The company is among the worldпїЅs market leaders in the production of polyethylene, polypropylene and other advanced thermoplastics, glycols, methanol and fertilizers.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Indian refiners processed 21.11 MMt, or 4.99 MMbpd, of crude oil in January, a decline of around 1.5% compared with the same period last year, as many state refiners shut units for maintenance, preliminary government data showed on Wednesday, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing.

India's oil output in January rose 1.3% to about 3.08 MMt or about 727,000 bpd, while natural gas output was up 11.9% at 2.74 Bcm, the data showed.

Among the key refineries affected by shutdowns are Indian Oil Corp's 274,000-bpd Koyali refinery in the western state of Gujarat, Bharat Petroleum Corp's 120,000-bpd Mumbai and 190,000-bpd Kochi refineries, and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd's 300,000-bpd plant in southern India.

Crude processing at IOC's 300,000-bpd Paradip refinery in the eastern state of Odisha was hit due to coke upliftment issues, while runs at the 150,000-bpd Haldia refinery declined due to vacuum gas oil stock build-up.

We remind that, as MRC reported earlier, tate-run Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (HPCL) received environmental clearance from Indian officials to expand its Visakhapatnam refinery in Andhra Pradesh from 8.33 MMtpy to 15.0 MMtpy.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- TPI Polene is likely to taken an ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA)/low density polyethylene (LDPE) swing plant off-stream, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Thailand informed that the company has planned to shut the plant in March 2017 and is expected to remain under maintenance for around 30 days. The exact date of the shutdown could not be ascertained.

Located in Map Ta Phut, Rayong province in Thailand, the plant has a production capacity of 150,000 mt/year.

As MRC wrote before, in June 2015, TPI Polene shut down its EVA/LDPE plant in Thailand for a turnaround.

TPI Polene Public Company Limited is Thailand's third largest cement manufacturer. It also manufactures petrochemicals, including low density polyethylene and ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA).
MRC

In January, 4,760 tonnes of Crimean Titan's TiO2 were sold for export or over than by 2 times more than in the same period last year.

The imports structure looked as follows.

1,440 tonnes of Chemours' material, accounting for 47% of the total imports, 330 tonnes of Kronos and Sachtleben's TiO2 (per each), 260 tonnes of Huntsman's material and 160 tonnes of Cristal's TiO2 were imported.

TiO2 imports for paints and coatings production were 2,690 tonnes or 85% of the total shipments, whereas TiO2 imports for PVC production totalled 220 tonnes or 7%.

TiO2 imports into the Russian market decreased in 2016 by 33% year on year, totalling 43,400 tonnes.

MRC