Perstorp to debottleneck its Capa caprolactone derivatives plants at Warrington, UK

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Perstorp has recently reported that they have made significant progress in "future-proofing" its Capa caprolactone monomer plant in Warrington, United Kingdom, as per the company's press release.

The monomer plant will be made more robust to ensure an even more reliable supply for customers around the world.

This investment will also facilitate future debottlenecking to support market growth. Perstorp is building in the capability for the plant to run with a higher capacity, which allows for increased production volumes in the future. In addition, Perstorp is now starting to debottleneck its Capa derivatives production units at Warrington, UK to further support customer demand.

"We continue to see strong confidence and demand in the caprolactone market, and in particular for our range of caprolactone derivatives marketed under the names Capa Thermoplastics and Capa Polyols. In order to provide high quality products and a partnership that strengthens our customers’ businesses, we strive to increase even further the reliability of manufacturing and supply aimed at the market", says Stephen Lewis, Vice President Business Unit Caprolactones.

"In particular, the strong growth is largely driven by our customers’ recognition of the unique properties and performance advantages of our Capa product range. Capa Thermoplastics are utilized in diverse application areas such as Adhesives and Sealants, Medical, Bioplastics and Footwear. An increasing demand leads to a strong need to invest in additional capacity, in order to ensure we meet our customer’s future requirements and growth plans in a timely manner”, Stephen Lewis concludes.

As MRC reported previously, in the first half of 2017, Synthomer plc acquired Perstorp Oxo Belgium AB from the Swedish Perstorp Holding AB for EUR 78 million. Perstorp Belgium is a niche additives business serving the decorative and industrial coatings industries. In 2016, the business generated earnings before interest and tax of EUR 8 million and had gross assets of EUR 21 million. The company operates from a single site in Ghent, Belgium, and has 41 employees, who will all be transferred with the business.

Perstorp is one of the world leaders in various sectors of the specialty chemicals market, it's pioneer in formalin chemistry, plastics and surface materials. Perstorp was founded in 1881 and is controlled by PAI partners,a major European private equity company. The company has around 1,500 employees in with 22 production plants in Europe, Asia and North America.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Trinseo, a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex binders and synthetic rubber, reported its second quarter 2018 financial results with net sales of USD1,237 million, net income of USD98 million, and earnings per diluted share of USD2.24, as per the company's press release.

Second quarter Adjusted EPS was USD2.40 and Adjusted EBITDA was USD170 million.

Net sales in the second quarter increased 8% versus prior year due to higher sales volume across all segments except for Feedstocks as well as favorable currency, as the euro strengthened in comparison to the U.S. dollar, which had a positive impact across all segments. These impacts were partially offset by lower prices due to the pass through of lower butadiene cost, which was partially offset by the pass through of higher styrene cost. Second quarter net income of $98 million was USD38 million higher than prior year. Second quarter Adjusted EBITDA of USD170 million was USD44 million higher than prior year. The higher profitability was from higher styrene margins, favorable currency impacts, as well as favorable net timing in the current year, due to increasing raw material costs, in comparison to unfavorable net timing in the prior year. Lower margins outside of the Feedstocks segment, including impacts from raw material costs, were more than offset by higher sales volume across nearly all segments except Feedstocks.

Commenting on the Company’s performance, Chris Pappas, Trinseo President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "We started the year with record profitability in the first quarter and continued that momentum with strong profitability in the second quarter, with total company performance in line with guidance. In addition, we had strong cash generation and returned USD52 million to shareholders via share repurchases and dividends."
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Trinseo, a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex binders and synthetic rubber, and its affiliate companies in Europe have announced price increases for all polystyrene (PS), acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) and acrylonitrile styrene copolymer (SAN) grades, as per the company's press release.

Effective August 1, 2018, or as existing contract terms allow, the contract and spot prices for the products listed below will increase as follows:

- STYRON general purpose polystyrene grades (GPPS) - by EUR30 per metric ton;
- STYRON and STYRON A-Tech high impact polystyrene grades (HIPS) - by EUR30 per metric ton;
- MAGNUM ABS resins - by EUR30 per metric ton;
- TYRIL SAN resins - by EUR30 per metric ton.

As MRC informed before, Trinseo last raised its prices for all PS, ABS and SAN grades on 1 Jue 2018, as stated below:

- STYRON GPPS grades - by EUR80 per metric ton;
- STYRON and STYRON A-Tech HIPS grades - by EUR80 per metric ton;
- MAGNUM ABS resins - by EUR95 per metric ton;
- TYRIL SAN resins - by EUR80 per metric ton.

Trinseo is a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex and rubber. Trinseo's technology is used by customers in industries such as home appliances, automotive, building & construction, carpet, consumer electronics, consumer goods, electrical & lighting, medical, packaging, paper & paperboard, rubber goods and tires. Formerly known as Styron, Trinseo completed its renaming process in 1Q 2015. Trinseo had approximately USD4.4 billion in net sales in 2017, with 16 manufacturing sites around the world, and approximately 2,200 employees.
MRC

MOSCOW (Market Report) -- Gazprom neftekhim Salavat, one of Russia's largest production complexes for oil refining and petrochemicals, resumed its low density polyethylene (LDPE) production after a scheduled turnaround, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

The plant's customers said Gazprom neftekhim Salavat's LDPE production began operations yesterday, 1 August. PE production resumed operations after the scheduled turnaround, which started a month ago.

Gazprom neftekhim Salavat's LDPE and high density polyethyelene (HDPE) production capacities are 45,000 and 120,000 tonnes per year, respectively.

Angarsk Polymers Plant is expected to finish a scheduled maintenance at its LDPE production next week. The scheduled works at the Angarsk production capacities also started in early July.

OAO "Gazprom neftekhim Salavat" (formerly OAO "Salavatnefteorgsintez") is one of the leading petrochemical companies in Russia, carrying out a full cycle of processing hydrocarbon material. The list of products manufactured by the plant includes more than 140 items, including 76 grades of the main products: gasoline, diesel fuel, kerosene, fuel oil, toluene, solvent, liquefied gases, benzene, styrene, ethylbenzene, butyl alcohols, phthalic anhydride and plasticizers, polyethylene, polystyrenes, silica gels and zeolite catalysts, corrosion inhibitors, elemental sulfur, ammonia and urea, glycols and amines, a wide range of household products made of plastics, surfactants and much more.
MRC