Axalta Coating Systems completes acquisition of Spencer Coatings Group

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Axalta Coating Systems has completed its previously announced acquisition of the Spencer Coatings Group, a leading manufacturer of high performance industrial coatings for heavy-duty equipment, general industrial, oil and gas, and glass coatings segments, said Coatingsworld.

Manufactured in facilities in the U.K., Spencer’s line of industrial products will join Axalta’s portfolio of Performance Coatings for industrial customers. With a shared commitment to customers and strong foundation in product innovation, Axalta will utilize Spencer’s products and people to serve existing customers in the U.K. and expand into new geographies.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Gurit, a worldwide leading developer and manufacturer of advanced composite materials, components and technologies, has announced that it has renewed its distribution agreement with Maricell S.r.l., an Italian producer of closed-cell PVC structural foam, as per the company's press release.

Under the terms of the agreement, Gurit will continue to distribute all Maricell PVC globally until December 31, 2020, with further extension options.

The distribution agreement is equally beneficial for both parties. Gurit benefits from a guaranteed volume of high-quality PVC while Maricell can rely on a sales volume which Gurit has committed to distribute through its global network.

Gurit will continue to produce and distribute its existing core materials range Corecell, PVC, Balsaflex and Kerdyn PET globally. Furthermore, Gurit offers regional stock as well as slicing and finishing capacities for structural foam to customers in Europe, the Americas and the Asia-Pacific region in order to provide customers the complete composite solution - from engineering to material selection and material processing to on-site technical support.

As MRC wrote before, in January 2017, Gurit acquired BASF's polyethylene terephthalate (PET) structural foam business in Italy.

Maricell is a producer of closed-cell PVC structural foam.

The companies of Gurit Holding AG, Wattwil/Switzerland, (SIX Swiss Exchange: GUR) are specialized on the development and manufacture of advanced composite materials, related technologies and select finished parts and components. The comprehensive product range comprises fiber reinforced prepregs, structural core products, gel coats, adhesives, resins and consumables. Gurit supplies global growth markets with composite materials on the one hand and composite tooling equipment, structural engineering and select finished parts on the other. The global Group has production sites and offices in Switzerland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain, the U.K., Poland, Canada, the U.S.A., Ecuador, Australia, New Zealand, India and China.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Braskem SA, Latin America's largest petrochemical company, said on Tuesday that it had obtained approval from a Brazilian court for its leniency deal in a corruption case involving political kickbacks at Brazil's Petrobras, said Reuters.

Braskem said in a securities filing that decision completes approval for its global leniency accord with US, Swiss and Brazilian authorities. Braskem agreed in December to fines in Brazil and the United States to settle charges that it schemed to bribe politicians and executives in Brazil.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The June contract price of propylene in Europe was settled down by EUR40/tonne from May. Therefore, European producers were forced to reduce their export polypropylene (PP) prices for the CIS countries this month, although restrictions on exports remained, as per ICIS-MRC Price report.

Negotiations over June prices of European PP began this week, many market participants said European producers had reduced their export PP prices more than the amount of reduction in the propylene price in Europe. At the same time, restrictions on exports remained, some producers do not plan to ship material to the CIS markets this month at all.

Deals for June shipments of homopolymer propylene (homopolymer PP) were negotiated in the range of EUR1,100-1,140/tonne FCA, whereas last month's deals were done in the range of EUR1,140 - 1,200/tonne FCA. Some producers still had restrictions on exports, with homopolymer PP raffia accounting for the acutest shortage.

Deals for copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) were discussed in the range of EUR1,155 -1,220/tonne FCA. Negotiations over June shipments of PP random copolymers were held in the range of EUR1,200-1,260/tonne FCA.
MRC

According to the National Statistics Committee of Belarus, Polymir, the local LDPE manufacturer, produced about 5,000 tonnes of polyethylene (PE) in May, which is comparable to the figure of a month earlier. Thus, Polymir's overall LDPE output was 25,800 tonnes in January-May 2017 versus 54,800 tonnes a year earlier. The fire at one of the ethylene units in late June, which led to a two-fold reduction in the olefin production, was the main reason for such a major fall in the output.

As reported earlier, Polymir shut down its LDPE production for a scheduled turnaround on 3 June. The maintenance will be carried out in two stages, some of the production capacities will resume operations on 17 June.

Polymir (part of Naftan) is Belarus' largest petrochemical company, producing a wide range of chemical products, such as low density polyethylene (LDPE), acrylic fibers, products of organic synthesis, hydrocarbon fractions, etc. Polymir was founded in 1968. The producer uses technologies of the largest foreign companies from Great Britain, Japan, Germany, Italy (Courtaulds, Asahi Chemical Co. Ltd, Kanematsu Gosho, SNIA BPD, etc.), as well as the development of scientific research institutes and design institutes of the CIS countries. The plant's annual capacity is 130,000 tonnes.

MRC