Swiss Gurit renews PVC distribution agreement with Maricell

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

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Dow Chemical Company has announced the completion of the construction phase of its new ELITE enhanced polyethylene (PE) production facility in Freeport, Texas, as per the company's press release.

Completed on time, the 400,000 metric ton polyethylene unit is the first of four new derivative investments currently under way at Dow’s manufacturing sites in Texas and Louisiana as part of the company’s previously announced USD6 billion expansion on the U.S. Gulf Coast.

"This milestone further reflects the steady progress our teams are making to bring these multi-phased investments online to enhance our cost-advantaged integration and industry-leading innovation,” said Jim Fitterling, Dow’s president and chief operating officer. "Taken together, these investments represent the industry's broadest and most differentiated derivative slate, fueled by Dow's proprietary catalyst and process technologies, and will deliver enhanced products and technologies for our customers while enabling higher quality growth for our shareholders."

The production unit now enters its commissioning and start-up phase in sequence with the mid-year start-up of Dow’s 1.5 million metric ton world-scale ethylene facility. The plant is expected to ramp up during the third quarter and be fully operational in the fourth quarter. Designed with Dow’s proprietary Solution process technology, the unit will produce ELITE™ enhanced polyethylene resins, known for their versatility and high performance attributes in multiple types of flexible packaging applications for food, personal hygiene products and industrial packaging.

"The mechanical completion of our first new polyethylene unit is yet another milestone that brings us closer to having more volume to meet growing customer demand globally," said Diego Donoso, business president for Dow’s Packaging and Specialty Plastics business. "As with our ethylene production facility, the Dow team safely delivered the project on time. This is yet another example of Dow’s ability to deliver on our commitments to generate value for our customers, shareholders and employees."

Dow’s other three derivative units along with a planned debottleneck are proceeding on schedule and are staged to come online throughout 2017 and 2018:

- New specialty low density polyethylene for industrial and supply chain packaging applications (Capacity: 350 KTA), which is also expected to come online in coordination with the cracker;
- Next Generation NORDEL metallocene EPDM to deliver solutions for higher-margin applications for the transportation, infrastructure and consumer durables end-markets (Capacity: 200 KTA), expected to startup in early 2018;
- Bi-modal gas phase de-bottleneck to enable more offerings for high-performance pipe and fitting applications, as well as the cap and closure market (125 KTA), to follow later in 2018;
- High Melt Index Specialty and Conventional Polyolefin Elastomers for high-performance flexible packaging, transportation and consumer markets (Capacity: 320 KTA), expected to come online in late 2018.

As MRC informed before, in 2012, three major chemical companies: Dow Chemical, Formosa Plastics, and Chevron Phillips Chemica,l had unveiled their expansion plans in North America basing on deposits in the Marcellus Shale Formation in New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. One of the upcoming projects of Dow Chemical basing on attractive price of shale gas is propylene project in Freeport, Texas.

The Dow Chemical Company is an American multinational chemical corporation. Dow is a large producer of plastics, including polystyrene, polyurethane, polyethylene, polypropylene, and synthetic rubber. Dow's integrated, market-driven portfolio delivers a broad range of technology-based products and solutions to customers in 175 countries and in high-growth sectors such as packaging, infrastructure, transportation, consumer care, electronics, and agriculture. In 2016, Dow had annual sales of USD48 billion and employed approximately 56,000 people worldwide. The Company's more than 7,000 product families are manufactured at 189 sites in 34 countries across the globe.
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