Stepan buys PerformanX Specialty Chemicals surfactant business

Stepan Co has completed the previously announced purchase of the surfactant business and associated assets of PerformanX Specialty Chemicals (PerformanX Specialty Chem), said the company.

The acquisition includes intellectual property, commercial relationships and inventory. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

As per MRC, Stepan plans to invest USD220m to build a new alkoxylation plant at its site in Pasadena, Texas. The new plant will provide “a flexible capacity” of 75,000 tonnes/year, capable of both ethoxylation and propoxylation, and better position the company to serve growing global demand in its surfactant and polymer businesses, it said.

As MRC informed before, Stepan conducted planned maintenance at its 90,000 tonnes/year phthalic anhydride (PA) plant Millsdale, Illinois, US, from early October to end-October, 2020.

Stepan is a manufacturer of specialty and intermediate chemicals used in a wide range of industries. The company is based in Northfield, Illinois, USA. The company is also a manufacturer of surfactants, which are key ingredients in consumer and industrial cleaning formulations. In addition, the company is a supplier of polyurethane polyols used in the growing market for thermal insulation and the CASE industry (coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers).

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Unipar Carbocloro (UNIP3, UNIP6) reported this Friday, 14th, after the market closed, that a potential transaction involving Braskem (BRKM5) is one of the opportunities evaluated, although no binding document has been signed, said Financenews.

The statement appears in a statement where the company responds to a request for explanations by the Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) and B3.

The request of both came after the article published in the newspaper Valor Economico on October 13th under the title “Apollo improves supply and moves sales at Braskem”. The report states that “Unipar would continue to be interested in Braskem's assets in Sao Paulo, in an operation with a price equivalent to R$ 60 per petrochemical share”.

“Regarding the inquiries made, the company clarifies that it is part of its routine to evaluate new business opportunities as they arise, constantly studying opportunities for investments, acquisitions and other strategic alternatives that are consistent and compatible with its objectives and that , in this sense, a potential transaction involving Braskem S.A. is one of the opportunities evaluated, however, no binding document has been signed between the company and Braskem”, said Unipar in the statement filed on the CVM website.

Braskem's shares were the highlight of the week's rise. Although they dropped 4.5% this Friday, the 14th, during the week they jumped 30.90%. The strong appreciation comes after the news published on the blog of journalist Lauro Jardim, at O ??Globo, that the American manager Apollo made a new offer for the petrochemical company.

We remind, Unipar's board of directors (UNIP6) approved an additional investment in the project to implement a chlorine/soda and derivatives production plant at the Camacari Petrochemical Complex, in Bahia. The increase will be around R$94 million. In a statement sent to the CVM (Securities Commission), Unipar says that the project will increase by 10 thousand tons of chlorine per year to the production capacity originally planned.

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Amcor, a global leader in developing and producing responsible packaging solutions, released its first Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosure (TCFD) report, which includes the results Amcor’s climate scenario analysis exercise, along with information about the company’s climate governance structure, risk management approach and performance metrics, said Polymerupdate.

As a leader in sustainability, the report marks another milestone for the organization, ensuring continued transparency of its climate-related business risks as well as providing a roadmap on how to best integrate climate risk management opportunities within its operational strategy.

Michael Casamento, Chief Financial Officer at Amcor, said, “The report represents the latest example of how Amcor has integrated climate-related considerations into its growth strategy and risk management framework. Adding TCFD standards to our sustainability-related reporting that already adheres to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), as well as leading the packaging industry by reporting against SASB standards, helps us continue to lead with transparent, forward-thinking environmental stewardship.”

We remind, Amcor has completed its acquisition of a flexible packaging plant in the Czech Republic. Commissioned as a greenfield in 2019, the plant is fitted with advanced, specialised equipment to allow it to serve various segments, including coffee and pet food. In addition, the purchased land and buildings offer the capacity to expand the facility’s operations and establish a production hub at the site.

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France's refinery strikes are emboldening hardline unions and the political opposition hoping to ignite a broader movement that could threaten President Emmanuel Macron's reform agenda, said Reuters.

After nearly three weeks and petrol stations across the nation starting to run dry, the refinery strikes have triggered calls for more industrial action in other sectors and handed the opposition an opportunity. The left-wing NUPES parliamentary coalition aims to capitalize on the situation with a march on Sunday it hopes will be a major show of force and help turn the page on domestic violence accusations that have dogged senior members recently.

"The situation is being weaponized, when you mix it all up, you get the march on Sunday. You get the fodder that set the yellow vest fire," a government source said, referring to months of widespread and sometimes violent street protests in 2018 where demonstrators often wore yellow high-visibility vests.

As fuel shortages began to hit businesses and disrupt people's everyday lives, the government took the rare step this week of requisitioning a small number of striking refinery workers to keep supplies flowing to the pumps. Taking a cue from their refinery colleagues, some workers at nuclear power plants have begun staging rolling strikes for higher wages, hitting already record low nuclear energy production.

While polls suggest as many as two-thirds of French people support requisitioning refinery workers, the move is a red flag for unions, which see it as a violation of their constitutional right to strike. Four unions - but not France's biggest, the moderate CFDT - have called for strikes and protests on Tuesday for wage increases and also to protect the sacrosanct right to strike.

"From the beginning, the government has downplayed the strike's impact and underestimated the discontent and this is where we end up," CGT union head Philippe Martinez said on Friday on television channel franc. With the social atmosphere increasingly on edge, the situation is hardly any better in the corridors of parliament where the government is struggling to get the 2023 budget passed, having lost its ruling majority in June legislative elections.

We remind, a strike at TotalEnergies' French refineries has been reconducted across all sites after the government warned it would requisition staff at some petrol depots to secure supplies following weeks-long strikes, French media report on Wednesday, citing the hardline CGT union. Strikers also reconducted the movement at Exxon Mobil's Port Jerome refinery despite the government threat to requisition staff at depots run by Exxon's Esso France unit, France Info and BFM TV said, also citing the CGT union.
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Shell Catalysts & Technologies and Technip Energies are building on their successful track record of collaboration by strengthening their strategic alliance, which aims to drive cost-effective, large-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects by providing a combination of state-of-the-art technology and project management excellence, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Technip Energies recently joined Shell’s Energy Transition Campus Amsterdam (ETCA) to form a joint, co-located delivery team. This follows Shell’s move to transform the site, previously known as Shell Technology Centre Amsterdam, into an open innovation campus and to invite external parties to co-locate there and work together to solve the world’s biggest energy challenges. Over the next few years, the joint team stationed at ETCA will continue to work towards achieving strong improvements in cost reduction through joint value delivery and improvement programs.

The strategic alliance is an integrated cooperative relationship for the joint promotion, marketing, licensing and execution of projects using Shell’s CANSOLV CO2 Capture System technology. The two organizations, which have been working together since 2012, believe that, by enhancing their collaboration, they will be able to better respond to the rapidly growing CCS market and the need for affordable and proven solutions.

In addition to its CANSOLV technology, Shell Catalysts & Technologies brings to the alliance substantial CCS experience gained from supporting Shell’s projects. Technip Energies, which also has a significant CCS track record, brings end-to-end project delivery experience in front-end-engineering design (FEED), engineering, procurement and construction (EPC), commissioning and start-up and life-of-asset services.

Yuri Sebregts, Executive Vice President Technology for Shell says, “Our current cooperation has already unlocked several highly significant improvements. For example, we were able to find ways to make the CANSOLV technology less energy intensive and developed opportunities to modularize and standardize solutions. Consequently, we are able to offer lower capital and operating costs to our customers.”

Arnaud Pieton, CEO, Technip Energies, observes, “Both organizations are recognized global energy leaders, bring complementary skills for CCS and share a similar, bold energy transition vision. Extending our agreement and having a joint delivery team in ETCA are the natural next steps in strengthening our alliance and will help to drive CCS affordability by developing industrial-scale solutions. This will support the growing demand for CCS across industries and geographies and will help us to make a significant contribution to a sustainable future.”

We remind, Mitsui Chemicals has asked Shell Catalysts & Technologies for its Shell S-896 catalyst, which is expected to provide important economic benefits from raw material (ethylene) savings and also help the organization meet the decarbonization goals for their ethylene oxide (EO) refinery in Osaka, Japan.

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