Indian Oil to shut PTA plant in Panipat for maintenance

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The state-owned Indian Oil Corp Ltd (IOCL), India's largest refiner and oil marketing company, likely to take its purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plant off-stream for maintenance, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in the India informed that the company is expected to shut the plant in early July 2017. The plant is likely to remain shut for around one month.

Located in Panipat, India, the PTA plant has a production capacity of 550,000 mt/year.

As MRC reported before, IOCL is also in plans to undertake maintenance at its polypropylene (PP) plant at Panipat refinery in northern India in early-July 2017. It is likely to remain under maintenance turnaround for around 4 weeks.Located at Panipat in the northern Indian state of Haryana, the PP plant comprising two units has a production capacity of 300,000 mt/year each.

Indian Oil Corporation Limited, or IndianOil, is an Indian state-owned oil and gas corporation with its headquarters in New Delhi, India.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Cosmo Films, a global leader in films for packaging, labeling and lamination applications would now offer an extended range of direct thermal printable (DTP) products, as per the company's press release.

This would include standard DTP films, top coated DTP films, high temperatures DTP films and DTP paper.Direct thermal printing is generally used for tagging and labelling applications where elaborate printing is not required and printing is done only for critical information like barcodes. Direct Thermal printing does not require an ink ribbon for printing, and the image/impression formation takes place simply when coated substrate comes in contact with the print head of the thermal printer.

The company has just launched a BOPP based top coated direct thermal printable film which is water and solvent resistant and can be used for tough weather labelling such as deep freeze product labelling, industrial bar coding, track & trace and logistics. The film can endure temperatures of -20 to 70 degrees. A high temperature resistance variety with endurance level as high as 130 degrees is also being offered. The product has been developed keeping meat packaging & carcass tagging applications in mind requiring relatively higher temperature process parameters.

The company would now also offer direct thermal printable paper in both top coated and uncoated varieties. Top coated variety would be well suited for applications requiring water resistance.

Commenting on the development, Mr. Kapil Anand, Head - Speciality Labeling Exports, Cosmo Films said, "Direct thermal printing has been gaining significant prominence in recent times due to its ease of use, low total applied cost and optimum image density and we are glad that we can offer both paper and filmic solutions for a wide range of applications now being printed by this printing technology."

As MRC wrote before, Cosmo Films Limited installed a new 10.4 mtr BOPP line in early 2017, which increased the company’s annual BOPP production capacity from 140k to 200k MT.

Established in 1981, Cosmo Films Limited today is a global leader in speciality films for packaging, lamination and labeling applications. Its films offerings include biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) films, cast polypropylene (CPP) films and soon to be offered biaxially oriented polyethylene terephthalate (BOPET) films. Today, the company is the largest exporter of BOPP films from India and is also the largest producer of thermal laminating films in the world with plant cum distribution centres in the U.S, Korea & Japan and global channel partners in more than seventy countries.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Moody's Investors Service raised its outlook for US-based Kronos Worldwide to stable from negative following the recovery of prices for titanium dioxide (TiO2), said the ratings agency in its press release.

It also upgraded Kronos' speculative grade liquidity rating to SGL-2 from SGL-3, Moody's said.

Moody's also affirmed its B1 corporate family rating for Kronos.

Moody's raised its outlook for the company because it expects that Kronos' credit metrics will remain solid for a company rated B1. A B1 rating is speculative grade.

Moody's based its confidence on the cyclical recovery in the TiO2 industry. Prices have recovered after falling for several quarters.

As TiO2 prices recovered, Kronos' credit profile has improved.

As MRC informed before, TiO2 imports into the Russian market decreased in 2016 by 33% year on year, totalling 43,400 tonnes. Kronos' last year share was 16% or 6,900 tonnes of the total imports.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- By taking over the coatings and pressroom chemicals operations in the EMEA region of its strategic partner Fujifilm Europe BV, Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) is expanding into the attractive growth segment for consumables, said Heidelberg.

This transaction is another step in pursuing the company’s growth strategy of developing a fully comprehensive cross-sector portfolio that is geared toward specific customer requirements. Fujifilm will continue to focus on supplying total pressroom solutions to plate customers.

At the start of the new financial year 2017/18, as previously announced, Heidelberg adapted the company’s structure to its digital future. This move saw the Heidelberg Digital Technology (HDT) and Heidelberg Digital Business & Services (HDB) segments established on April 1, 2017. HDT combines operations in sheetfed offset, label printing, and postpress and is responsible for developing, producing, and marketing the appropriate technologies and products for new business models. HDB, meanwhile, is where Heidelberg will manage its operations in services, consumables, remarketed equipment, digital printing technology, and solutions throughout the value-added chain. The expansion the company is pursuing in consumables and the design and implementation of new business models are helping to extend this value creation for customers.

"We are systematically gearing our portfolio towards profitable growth," says Rainer Hundsdorfer, CEO of Heidelberg. "Taking over the coatings and pressroom chemicals operations of Fujifilm in EMEA is helping us become a digital company and enabling us to offer our customers a fully comprehensive portfolio ranging from technology to consumables and service."

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Evonik Resource Efficiency GmbH announces a price increase for the Epoxy Curing Agents business, said the producer on its press-release.

The increase will be effective from July 1, 2017. All existing contracts will be honored. Prices will be increased as follows:

• Polyamides up to 3%
• Other Curing Agents and Additives up to 5%
The increase is necessary to offset the on-going escalation of key raw materials.

Evonik’s Epoxy Curing Agents Business Line appreciates your business and we remain focused on providing you with the very best technology and service that we can provide.

Evonik, the creative industrial group from Germany, is one of the world leaders in specialty chemicals. Profitable growth and a sustained increase in the value of the company form the heart of Evonik’s corporate strategy. Evonik benefits specifically from its innovative prowess and integrated technology platforms.

Evonik is active in over 100 countries around the world with more than 35,000 employees. In fiscal 2016 the enterprise generated sales of around EUR12,7 billion.

Evonik Industries has been producing specialty chemical products in the Greater China region (Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan) since the late 1970’s; with wide-ranging trading relations already in place prior to this in the region. Evonik regards Greater China as one of the driving forces of the global economy and we consequently endeavor to grow our business in the region. The company now has around 3,000 employees in the Greater China region, the regional sales reached about EUR1.3 billion in 2016.
MRC