Chemical maker TPC Group files pre-arranged bankruptcy

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A succession of accidents and disasters led US-based butadiene (BD) producer TPC Group to file for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11, said Reuters.

Under Chapter 11, TPC Group will be protected from creditor lawsuits while it negotiates with creditors to restructure its debt. A key bloc of creditors has already entered a restructuring support agreement with TPC Group.

This group of creditors hold the following: 88% of TPC's USD205.5m outstanding 10.875% secured notes due 2024.
78% of TPC's $930m outstanding 10.5% secured notes due 2024. The restructuring support agreement establishes a framework for TPC to restructure its debt and liabilities, the company said.

Based on the agreement, TPC expects to eliminate more than USD950m of its USD1.3bn secured debt. In addition to the notes, TPC's secured debt includes an asset-based revolving loan worth USD105.5m.

The agreement should also resolve all of TPC's tort liabilities that arose from the explosion at its BD processing plant at Port Neches, Texas, in 2019. The company is negotiating a possible settlement that would address the Port Neches claims and get the support of the claimants for a reorganisation plan. That plan would allow TPC to emerge from bankruptcy protection.

It also could provide some recovery for those that hold general unsecured claims against TPC. Recovery could include USD5m in cash plus another $5m based on TPC's earnings projection for 2024. TPC does not have the support of all of its creditors.

In February, TPC announced that it had entered into a forbearance agreement with its lenders after failing to make interest payments.

As per MRC, The Polyolefins Company (TPC) has decided not to shut its low density polyethylene (LDPE) plant in Jurong Island, Singapore in mid-July 2021 for maintenance. The turnaround at this plant with a capacity of 260,000 mt/year of LDPE was initially expected to last for 45 days. TPC last conducted maintenance at its LDPE plant in Jurong Island in July 2018.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Solvay announces a partnership with Out & Equal, a non-profit organization dedicated to LGBTQ+ workplace equality, which collaborates with corporations worldwide to help cultivate work environments that are free of discrimination and equal for all, said the company.

This new partnership reinforces Solvay’s deep commitment to foster a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace in which every Solvay employee, regardless of background, identity or experience, can thrive.

By leveraging the expertise and vast resources of Out & Equal, Solvay’s LGBTQ+ Alliance Employee Resource Group will create development and networking opportunities for LGBTQ+ colleagues and allies within the company, and will help to advise Solvay leaders on how to attract, build and retain a strong pipeline of LGBTQ+ talent. Out & Equal will also provide Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) training programs and toolkits that address issues related to LGBTQ+ inclusion and the business of belonging.

"Creating an inclusive workplace isn’t the work of just one person. If we want to have a culture that truly allows everyone to be their authentic self, we need strong partners to inspire us, help educate us and walk alongside us in our organizational journey,” said Nathalie van Ypersele, Chief DEI Officer. “We are thrilled to be working with Out & Equal, among other partners, to fully support employees and leaders in their careers and lives, to collectively achieve a greater positive impact on the world."

"I am excited about this partnership and the support it will bring us on our journey to make Solvay a more diverse, equitable and inclusive company,” said John O’Shea, Executive sponsor of Solvay’s LGBTQ+ Alliance Employee Resource Group and General Manager of SBS. “Quite simply, everyone matters. And an organizational culture that allows people to thrive makes people and business sense."

Solvay’s partnership is part of the Group’s One Dignity diversity, equity and inclusion strategy, which aims to cultivate an equitable and inclusive environment that attracts and embraces diversity. Solvay has set nine ambitious targets to be achieved by 2025, structured around three pillars: diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), and regularly communicated progress on these objectives in its annual integrated reporting.

As per MRC, Solvay, a leading global supplier of specialty polymers, announces the production of the new generation solvent Rhodiasolv IRIS, with eco-friendly properties. Previously manufactured in China, this solvent will now be produced from 2023 onwards at Solvay's Melle site, France.

We also remind that in August, 2020, through the acquisition of the Solvay polyamide (PA) business, BASF enhanced its R&D capabilities in Asia Pacific with new technologies, technical expertise, and upgraded material and part testing services. BASF is planning to integrate the R&D centers from Solvay into its R&D existing facilities in Shanghai, China, and Seoul, Korea. The enhanced capabilities will boost BASF’s position as a solution provider to develop advanced material solutions for key industries.

Solvay is a science company whose technologies bring benefits to many aspects of daily life. With more than 24,100 employees in 64 countries, Solvay bonds people, ideas and elements to reinvent progress. The Group seeks to create sustainable shared value for all, notably through its Solvay One Planet plan crafted around three pillars: protecting the climate, preserving resources and fostering better life. The Group’s innovative solutions contribute to safer, cleaner, and more sustainable products found in homes, food and consumer goods, planes, cars, batteries, smart devices, health care applications, water and air purification systems. Founded in 1863, Solvay today ranks among the world’s top three companies for the vast majority of its activities.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Evonik, one of the world's leading providers of drug delivery technologies, is building a new, highly flexible, global-scale production facility for pharmaceutical lipids in the United States, said the company.

The new plant at Evonik’s Tippecanoe site in Lafayette, Indiana, will broadly position the Group for future growth in novel mRNA-based therapies beyond COVID-19 vaccines and strengthen its leading role as a strategic partner for innovative pharmaceutical companies worldwide. Construction will begin in early 2023, and the plant is scheduled to goon stream in 2025. The investment into the lipid facility will help create more than 80 highly skilled jobs in the Lafayette region.

The total investment amounts to USD220 million. The U.S. Government is funding the facility with up to US$150 million through its Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), a component of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. BARDA promotes the advanced development of medical countermeasures to respond to 21st century health security threats and coordinated contracting support with the support of the DOD Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense (JPEO-CBRND). Additional support will be provided by the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC), Greater Lafayette Commerce (GLC), and Duke Energy.

The Health Care business of Evonik, a specialty chemicals company headquartered in Essen, Germany, serves as a leading and integrated service provider of products and technologies for mRNA-based medicines. Evonik has been supplying major pharmaceutical companies worldwide with the lipids needed for use with mRNA active ingredients (messenger ribonucleic acid). Lipids are critical components in the formulation of nucleic acid therapies.

During the coronavirus pandemic, Evonik made a crucial contribution by providing lipids to the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and vaccination campaigns worldwide. mRNA serves as a carrier of genetic information in cells. It can be designed for a broad range of pharmacological applications. mRNA vaccines, for example, teach cells how to make a protein that will trigger an immune response.

As per MRC, Evonik, one the world's petrochemical majors, is embarking on the next phase of its strategic transformation. Sustainability is being integrated fully and systematically into all elements of the strategy: portfolio management, innovation, corporate culture.

We remind that in February, 2020, Dow and Evonik entered into an exclusive technology partnership. Together, they plan to bring a unique method for directly synthesizing propylene glycol (PG) from propylene and hydrogen peroxide to market maturity.

Evonik is one of the world leaders in specialty chemicals. The company is active in more than 100 countries around the world and generated sales of EUR12.2 billion and an operating profit (adjusted EBITDA) of EUR1.91 billion in 2020. Evonik goes far beyond chemistry to create innovative, profitable and sustainable solutions for customers. About 33,000 employees work together for a common purpose: to improve life today and tomorrow.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Repsol will invest EUR105 mln in the Puertollano Industrial Complex to build the first plant in the Iberian Peninsula capable of manufacturing ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), a material considered a 'super polymer' due to its exceptional properties, said the company.

This new plant will be operational by the end of 2024 and will have an annual capacity of 15,000 tons. For the construction of the plant, Repsol has selected the technology of DSM, a renowned UHMWPE producer based in the Netherlands. This involves the use of cutting-edge, proven technology that adapts to the needs of customers.

UHMWPE is a material that, due to its exceptional hardness and strength characteristics, can replace steel in some applications and has high impact resistance, high toughness and self-lubricating capacity.

Applications include highly differentiated products with high added value, such as lithium-ion battery separators, construction profiles, coatings, parts for personal and military protection and medical applications such as prostheses, implants or dialysis filters. Currently, the UHMWPE market is growing due to the extraordinary characteristics of this material, which combines excellent mechanical properties with high lightness.

Repsol lifted the force majeure for the supply of butadiene in Tarragona (Tarragona, Spain), announced earlier in February. On February 10, the company stopped two lines for the production of butadiene with a total capacity of 130 tons per year in Tarragona. According to a company source, butadiene production was resumed on 23 March.

Earlier it was reported that against the backdrop of a change in global strategy, the Spanish Repsol, formerly a major investor in the Russian fuel and energy complex, announced its withdrawal from Russia in December last year. The company will sell its shares in the oil assets of Evrotek-Yugra and ASB Geo to a Russian partner, Gazprom Neft.

Repsol is the largest oil and gas company in Spain and Latin America, one of the ten largest oil and gas corporations in the world.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Borouge, the strategic joint venture between Abu Dhabi National Oil Companyand Borealis AG (“Borealis”), one of the world’s leading providers of innovative and differentiated polyolefin solutions, has listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (“ADX”) , following the completion of Abu Dhabi’s largest-ever Initial Public Offering (“IPO”) and the Middle East’s largest-ever petrochemicals listing, said the company.

The IPO, which raised gross proceeds of more than USD2.0 billion for the offering of 10% of the Company’s total issued share capital, attracted total gross demand of more than $83.4 billion and was almost 42 times oversubscribed in aggregate. The retail offering (comprising Tranche 1 and Tranche 3), which attracted higher retail demand than any UAE IPO in nearly 20 years, was 74 times oversubscribed. Borouge’s shares were priced and sold in the IPO at AED 2.45, implying a market capitalization for the Company of USD20.05 billion at the time of listing.

Founded in 1998 as a strategic joint venture between ADNOC and Borealis, Borouge is one of the world’s leading providers of innovative and differentiated polyolefin solutions for the agriculture, infrastructure, energy, packaging, mobility and healthcare industries. With the landmark IPO offering local and international investors the opportunity to own shares in one of the world’s leading petrochemical players, Borouge expects to pay a dividend of $975 million for the fiscal year 2022; and to pay a dividend of no less than USD1.3 billion for fiscal year 2023, equivalent to a 6.5% dividend yield based on the offer share price.

As pre MRC, Abu Dhabi-headquartered petrochemicals firm Borouge said on Monday it secured seven cornerstone investors, including India's wealthy Adani family for its USD2 billion initial public offering (IPO). Borouge, a joint venture between Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) and Austrian chemical producer Borealis, on Monday said it secured seven cornerstone investors, including India’s wealthy Adani family for its USD2 billion initial public offering (IPO).

We remind, Borealis (Vienna), a leading producer of polyolefins, has delayed the start-up of a new, world-scale propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant at its existing production site at Kallo, Belgium, which is the company's biggest investment in Europe, until Q3 2023, citing Covid-19. The plant in Kallo in the port of Antwerp was previously targeted to begin operations by the end of next year.

Borealis is owned by OMV AG and Mubadala Investment Co., the Abu Dhabi state investment company. Borealis is a leading provider of innovative solutions in the fields of polyolefins, base chemicals and fertilizers. With headquarters in Vienna, Austria, Borealis currently employs around 6,500 and operates in over 120 countries.
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