Azelis acquired WhitChem in the UK

Azelis acquired WhitChem in the UK

Azelis announces the acquisition of 100% of the shares of Whitfield Chemical Group Limited, a well-regarded distributor focused on coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers and rubber & plastic additives in the UK, said the company.

This acquisition reinforces Azelis’ position in industrial chemicals, and specifically in the CASE and R&PA market segments in the UK. WhitChem’s long-standing relationships with blue-chip principals and product portfolio strengthen Azelis’ lateral value chain in the UK, whilst their wide customer base and strong local technical sales team further expands the Group’s product offering and customer reach.

WhitChem employs 30 staff and generates the vast majority of their sales in the UK, with some exports to Ireland. Following the closing, the WhitChem management will stay and support the integration into Azelis, remain committed to growing the business, and further strengthen Azelis’ CASE & R&PA team.

As MRC informed earlier, in June 2021, Azelis announced the extension of its distribution scope with CP Kelco in India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. CP Kelco’s product range is a significant addition to Azelis’ portfolio and the new agreement marks an important milestone in the strong and continuously developing collaboration between both companies globally.

Besides, Azelis made two acquisitions in July, 2021, both in South Korea. The most recent agreement, announced on Jul. 14, is the proposed takeover of Seoul-headquartered Coseal, which specializes in the distribution, repackaging and blending of agricultural/horticultural surfactants. This transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021, when all of Coseal’s 45 employees, along with its owner and CEO Sang Jin Kang, will transfer to the Belgium-based distributor.

Nearly two weeks earlier, on Jul. 1, Azelis revealed it had purchased MH, a local distributor in the food ingredients market, providing the multinational specialty chemicals distribution group with a foothold in the food and health segment. Also headquartered in Seoul, MH is a family-owned business, supplying products such as gluten, starches, sweeteners and functional food ingredients.

Azelis is a leading distributor of speciality chemicals and food ingredients present in over 50 countries across the globe with around 2,200 employees. Our knowledgeable teams of industry, market and technical experts are each dedicated to a specific market within Life Sciences and Industrial Chemicals.

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Reliance may avoid buying Russian fuel after sanctions

Reliance may avoid buying Russian fuel after sanctions

India's Reliance Industries, operator of the world's biggest refining complex, may avoid buying Russian fuels for its plants following western sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine, reported Reuters with reference to a senior company official's statement.

"Even if we can source some of the feeds (from Russia), probably we will be out of it because of the sanctions," Rajesh Rawat, senior vice president and business head cracker, told an industry event on Wednesday.

Reliance buys Urals crude and straight run fuel oil for its refineries from Russia. The private refiner mostly buys its petrochemical feedstock from the Middle East and the US.

Sanctions on Russia have prompted many companies and countries to shun its oil, depressing Russian crude to record discount levels.

Rawat said in India most of the oil supplies from Russia are going to the state-run companies.

"So probably, those feed streams will still continue, or may have a lesser impact compared to the private sector players. Because we deal with banks, and also even if we can source some of the feeds (from Russia), probably we will be out of it because of the sanctions," Rawat told the Asia Refining and Petrochemical Summit.

As MRC informed before, in November 2021, Reliance Industries and Saudi Aramco decided to re-evaluate their agreement for the Middle Eastern producer to buy a stake in the refining and petrochemical business of India's biggest private refiner, and both companies would look at broader areas of cooperation due to the changing energy scenario.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,487,450 tonnes in 2021, up by 13% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 1,494.280 tonnes, up by 21% year on year. Deliveries of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whreas.shipments of PP random copolymers decreased significantly.

Reliance Industries is one of the world's largest producers of polymers. The company produces polypropylene, polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride and other petrochemical products.
MRC

LyondellBasell launched groundbreaking cosmetic tubes and caps for LOCCITANE

LyondellBasell launched groundbreaking cosmetic tubes and caps for LOCCITANE

LyondellBasell, Albea Tubes and L’OCCITANE en Provence have recently launched groundbreaking cosmetic tubes and caps for L’OCCITANE en Provence’s “almond” range, supporting the circular economy, said the company.

The packaging is made by Albea Tubes with CirculenRevive polymers from LyondellBasell. The protection of biodiversity and the reduction of waste are at the heart of the international beauty brand L’OCCITANE en Provence. Therefore, when re-designing two tubes of its “almond” product range, L’OCCITANE was seeking a resource-friendly solution and teamed up with cosmetic tubes specialist Albea and polymer supplier LyondellBasell.

As per MRC, LyondellBasell Industries will turn down new business opportunities with Russian state-owned entities, and plans to discontinue existing business with those entities as well. Houston-based LyondellBasell also is donating 200,000 euros (USD220,000) to relief efforts in Ukraine.

As MRC informed earlier, three US subsidiaries of Dutch chemical giant LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (LBI) have agreed to make upgrades and perform compliance measures estimated to cost USD50 million to resolve allegations they violated the Clean Air Act and state air pollution control laws at six petrochemical manufacturing facilities located in Channelview, Corpus Christi, and LaPorte, Texas, and Clinton, Iowa, according to the Department of Justice and the US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) statement.

LyondellBasell is one of the largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies in the world. Driven by its employees around the globe, LyondellBasell produces materials and products that are key to advancing solutions to modern challenges, like enhancing food safety through lightweight and flexible packaging, protecting the purity of water supplies through stronger and more versatile pipes, improving the safety, comfort and fuel efficiency of many of the cars and trucks on the road, and ensuring the safe and effective functionality in electronics and appliances. LyondellBasell sells products into more than 100 countries and is the world"s largest producer of polymer compounds and the largest licensor of polyolefin technologies. In 2020, LyondellBasell was named to Fortune Magazine"s list of the "World"s Most Admired Companies" for the third consecutive year.
mrchub.com

Sumitomo commenced sales of the industrial park in Bangladesh

Sumitomo commenced sales of the industrial park in Bangladesh

Sumitomo Corporation has commenced sales of the industrial park developed in a special economic zone in Narayanganj District, Dhaka Division, Bangladesh together with Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority, said the company.

Bangladesh borders India on the north, east and west, and Myanmar on the southeast, placing at a geographically important location connecting South and Southeast Asia. Bangladesh has abundant human resources, with 170 million people (ranking 8th in terms of population in the world) and the labor market is expected to increase at a pace of more than 2 million people every year for the next 20 years. Not only is Bangladesh expected to have a large domestic market, the country is expected to play an important role in the supply chains of products as an export hub for products to neighboring countries. Bangladesh government has set a goal of developing 100 special economic zones by 2030 with aim to diversify industrial areas, and global companies have made inroads into Bangladesh recently as a result.

The industrial park is located approximately 20 kilometers east of central Dhaka (about 1 hour by drive), and approximately 190 hectares are now being developed. The industrial park started its on-site infrastructure development construction works in November 2021 and is scheduled for completion to begin operational in December 2022. The industrial park features international standard infrastructure set up through a Japanese government ODA loan project and One Stop Service through BEZA for license and approval procedures for investors. Sumitomo Corporation is investing 76% stake in the industrial park entity, which amounts to approximately 13 billion Japanese Yen.

As it was written earlier, Sumitomo Corporation, Shikoku Electric Power Company and Sunseap Group, which is an integrated clean energy business company operating in the Asia-Pacific region, have jointly established Sun Trinity LLC to develop and operate in the solar power business in Japan.

Sumitomo Corporation has taken part in the business of development, sales and operation of industrial parks in Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar and India. As of February 2022, the 7 industrial parks have invited 563 tenant companies with 220,000 direct employment. This year marks the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Bangladesh and Japan. Sumitomo Corporation will utilize its know-how obtained through industrial park business operations in other countries to support tenant companies and contribute to the diversification of the industrial sector and encouraging job creation in Bangladesh.

mrchub.com

LG Chem invites innovative technology ideas for startups around the world

LG Chem invites innovative technology ideas for startups around the world

LG Chem announced that it will hold the ‘First Global Innovation Challenge (GIC)’ for startups all around the world, said the company.

GIC is a technology contest hosted by LG Chem for startups around the globe aimed at discovering outstanding innovative technologies.

With this GIC, LG Chem expanded its past open innovation involving industry-academic cooperation to global startups, and it plans to preemptive procure prospective future technologies and support its commercialization and quickly integrate it in actual businesses.

LG Chem will receive innovative technology ideas in a total of four sectors such as circular plastics, renewable hydrogen, carbon utilization, and sustainable battery materials from March 16 to May 1.

As per MRC, LG Chem Ltd., South Korean petrochemical major, has reported its 2021 net profit of 3.95 trillion won (USD3.3 billion), up 479.4% from a year earlier. The company said in a regulatory filing that operating income for the year rose 178.4% on-year to 5.02 trillion won. LG Chem's annual revenue increased by 41.9% to 42.65 trillion won.

As MRC reported before, LG Chem plans to shut down its naphtha cracker in the Korean city of Yeosu for a scheduled turnaround this year. Thus, LG Chem is expected to put its Yeosu naphtha cracker under scheduled maintenance sometime in the second half of 2022. LG Chem's Yeosu naphtha cracker can produce 1.16 MMtpy of ethylene.

LG Chem Ltd., often referred to as LG Chemical, is the largest Korean chemical company and is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. It has eight domestic factories and global network of 29 business locations in 15 countries. LG Chem is a manufacturer, supplier, and exporter of petrochemical goods, IT&E Materials and Energy Solutions.
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