PPG Industries unveiles increase in Q4 Iicome

PPG Industries unveiles increase in Q4 Iicome

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PPG Industries Inc. (PPG) revealed a profit for its fourth quarter that increased from the same period last year, according to the company's statement.

The company's bottom line totaled USD286 million, or USD1.20 per share. This compares with USD272 million, or USD1.14 per share, in last year's fourth quarter.

Excluding items, PPG Industries Inc. reported adjusted earnings of USD298 million or USD1.26 per share for the period.

The company's revenue for the quarter rose 11.4% to USD4.19 billion from USD3.76 billion last year.

PPG Industries Inc. earnings at a glance (GAAP): Earnings (Q4): USD286 Mln. vs. USD272 Mln. last year. -EPS (Q4): USD1.20 vs. USD1.14 last year. -Revenue (Q4): USD4.19 Bln vs. USD3.76 Bln last year.

As MRC reported earlier, in June 2021, PPG announced an expansion of its coatings manufacturing capacity in Europe for packaging applications. The investments at sites in The Netherlands and Poland will support growing customer demand in the region for the latest generation of coatings for aluminum and steel cans used in packaging for beverage, food and personal care items. The projects include a further expansion of the company’s location in Tiel, The Netherlands, which will increase the plant’s production capacity for PPG INNOVEL non-BPA internal coatings for beverage cans by 30%. Expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2022, the project follows a 50% expansion completed at the end of 2020.

BPA is the main feedstock for the production of polycarbonate (PC).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated consumption of PC granules (excluding imports and exports to/from Belarus) decreased in the first eleven months of 2021 by 11% year on year due to a major fall of imports and higher exports. Thus, overall estimated consumption totalled 74,300 tonnes in January-November 2021 versus 83,600 tonnes a year earlier.

PPG Industries Inc. is an international American company manufacturing paints and varnishes, chemicals, optical components, specialty materials, glass and fiberglass. The company includes over 150 production units and representative offices in more than 60 countries around the world. PPG is one of the 500 largest US corporations by sales.
MRC

Tank Holding acquires rotomolder Dutchland Plastics

Tank Holding acquires rotomolder Dutchland Plastics

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Tank Holding, said to be North America’s largest rotational molder, has acquired Wisconsin-based rotomolder Dutchland Plastics LLC for an undisclosed amount, said Canplastics.

Dutchland makes high-volume rotationally molded products including kayaks, coolers, playground equipment, and furniture at manufacturing sites in Oostburg, Wis., and Canastota, N.Y.

"Dutchland brings significant volume and capacity to our rotational molding platform,” Tank CEO Greg Wade said. “They have valuable long-term customer relationships and strengthens an important part of Tank Holding’s overall growth strategy."

Wade also noted that Dutchland’s two plants “complement the locations of our other facilities, which provides customers more options to optimize capability, capacity, and logistics." The Dutchland purchase is Tank’s sixth in the past year.

As per MRC, Tank Holding, the parent company of intermediate bulk container (IBC) manufacturer Snyder Industries, has acquired the IBC manufacturing assets from material handling container provider Hoover Ferguson.

We remind, private equity firm Olympus Partners has acquired Tank Holding Corp., said to be the largest rotational molder in North America. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

Tank, which includes the brands of Norwesco, Snyder Industries, Bonar Plastics, Bushman, Chem-tainer, Meese, Stratis Pallets, and Dura-Cast, is owned by Olympus Partners and the management team, and currently operates 39 manufacturing plant locations and employs over 1,500 people throughout North America, prior to the Dutchland acquisition.
MRC

Asahi Kasei to produce acrylonitrile using biomass-derived raw material

Asahi Kasei to produce acrylonitrile using biomass-derived raw material

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Asahi Kasei announced Tongsuh Petrochemical Corp., Ltd. (TSPC) acquired the international certification ISCC PLUS for its acrylonitrile (AN) as a sustainable product, and production of AN using biomass propylene is scheduled to begin in February 2022, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

AN is used as a raw material to make ABS resin, acrylamide, acrylic fiber, and various other chemical products. Recent demand growth has been particularly robust in the applications of carbon fiber as a material to reduce the weight of wind turbine blades, etc., and nitrile rubber for medical gloves, whose use is expanding due to heightened awareness for hygiene.

Propylene is one of the most important chemical intermediates in organic chemistry. It is generated during the thermal cracking of hydrocarbons and can be produced also by bioethanol from biomass fermentation processes. Biomass means plant or animal materials that can be used to produce bioenergy. These are usually wastes from agriculture, private households, industry or forestry. Food crops such as rapeseed, corn, wheat, sugar beet or sunflowers are also used as raw materials.

International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) is an international certification system that offers solutions for the implementation and certification of waste and residue raw materials, nonbio renewables and recycled carbon materials and fuels. ISCC PLUS is a certification system that covers mainly bio-based carbon materials, which are produced outside the EU and supplied globally to manage and ensure sustainable raw materials in the supply chain.

In order to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, measures to reduce CO2 emissions throughout the product chain of fossil fuel-derivatives are gaining momentum, and AN customers are increasingly seeking to manufacture products using AN with low CO2 emissions in order to contribute to GHG reduction. Under these circumstances, Asahi Kasei and TSPC sought to reduce CO2 emissions across the AN supply chain, and in October 2021, TSPC became the first AN manufacturer in Asia to acquire ISCC PLUS certification.

In order to contribute to society’s carbon neutrality, the Asahi Kasei Group will continue efforts to further reduce CO2 emissions by improving the AN catalysts and processes based on original technologies as well as the procurement of biomass raw material, aiming to be a global sustainable partner for its customers.

As MRC informed before, in March 2020, Asahi Kasei decided to discontinue its business for the styrenic resins SAN (Styrene-acrylonitrile resin), ABS (Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene), and ACS. According to the company, the operations of SAN plant at Kawasaki Works will be closed in March 2021. The business to be discontinued began with the 1962 start-up of the SAN plant in Kawasaki, now part of Asahi Kasei’s Kawasaki Works, followed by the 1964 start-up of the ABS plant at the same site (function transferred to Mizushima in 1978). The ACS business began in 1995. The ABS plant at Asahi Kasei’s Mizushima Works, which started up in 1967, was closed in 2015 due to deteriorating profitability as domestic Japanese demand decreased significantly.

As MRC informed before, in July 2019, Asahi Kasei decided to expand its plant for the artificial suede LamousTM in Nobeoka, Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan, by four million m2/year, increasing the total production capacity to 14 million m2/year upon completion in 2021.
MRC

Hexion shareholders approve acquisition by private equity firm

Hexion shareholders approve acquisition by private equity firm

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Hexion Holdings Corporation has announced that stockholders holding approximately 64.32% of the outstanding shares of common stock of the Company delivered to the Company written consents approving the proposed acquisition of the Company by affiliates of American Securities LLC, according to MorningStar.

Under and subject to the terms of the definitive merger agreement with affiliates of American Securities LLC, Hexion stockholders will be entitled to receive USD30.00 in cash for each share of common stock they own.

Hexion last month entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by American Securities for USD2.06bn, including the assumption of around USD1.24bn in net debt, for a total enterprise value of around USD3.3bn.

The sale to American Securities, along with the earlier deal to sell its epoxy business to Westlake Chemical, concludes Hexion’s evaluation of strategic actions aimed at maximising shareholder value.

As MRC reported before, in July 2021, Hexion Inc., a major American manufacturer of phenol and bisphenol A (BPA), has recently announced that in order to help address climate change, it has committed to reduce absolute carbon emissions by 20% by 2030.

Asd in November,2021, Hexion Holdings Corporation announced that as a result of its ongoing strategic review it had entered into a definitive agreement to sell its epoxy-based Coatings and Composite businesses, which includes the epoxy speciality resins and base epoxy resins and intermediates product lines (together, the “Epoxy Business”) for approximately US1.2bn to Westlake Chemical Corporation.

Based in Columbus, Ohio, Hexion Inc. is a global leader in thermoset resins. Hexion Inc. serves the global adhesive, coatings, and industrial markets through a broad range of thermoset technologies, specialty products and technical support for customers in a diverse range of applications and industries.
MRC

Saratov plant of polymeric materials began work in Engels

MOSCOW (MRC) -- NPP POLYPLASTIC has commissioned the Saratov Plant of Polymer Materials (SZPM) for compounding engineering plastics, the company said.

After reaching full production capacity, SZPM will produce about 20,000 tons of polymer composite materials per year based on polypropylene (PP) and polyamide (PA) to replace imports of engineering plastics in the domestic market.

Two energy-efficient high-tech compounding lines based on Blue Power extruders, which were supplied to SZPM by KraussMaffei (Germany). It is noted that these are the first extruders of this class in Russia. The lines are equipped with modern equipment from leading world and domestic manufacturers: Brabender Technologie, MAAG, Moretto. The installation was carried out by the Russian company Politekhnika.

The total volume of investments in fixed assets during the implementation of the Saratov Plant of Polymeric Materials project amounted to more than 420 million rubles. The enterprise has created 30 high-tech jobs.

The investment project for the creation of the SZPM was implemented with the support of the regional government. Construction work began in March 2021, and the first equipment arrived at the plant in May-June. The project entered the commissioning stage on December 10, 2021.

Research and Production Enterprise "POLYPLASTIC" specializes in the production of thermoplastic composite materials and polymer raw materials for processing by injection molding, blow molding and extrusion and occupies a leading position in the Russian market of compounds based on thermoplastics. The company is in the TOP-10 among European compounders. The total production capacity of the enterprise is more than 115 thousand tons per year.
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